The ongoing rehabilitation of troubled Hartford-based PHL Variable Insurance Co. has attracted multiple bidders interested in purchasing or reinsuring all or parts of the failed insurer, according to a court filing last week.
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The ongoing rehabilitation of troubled Hartford-based PHL Variable Insurance Co. has attracted multiple bidders interested in purchasing or reinsuring all or parts of the failed insurer, according to a court filing last week.
Six parties submitted proposals as the court-appointed rehabilitator, Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Andrew N. Mais, prepares to step down Nov. 28. The rehabilitation plan is due by the end of the year.
Four of the bidders would acquire PHL outright, while two target specific blocks of business, the rehabilitator’s Nov. 20 status report filed in Waterbury Superior Court shows.
PHL was placed under state control in May 2024 after regulators found it was in a “hazardous financial condition.” The company reported negative capital of $2.2 billion as of Dec. 31, 2024, a deficit that has remained essentially unchanged through September 2025.
Mais and his advisory team have been working to finalize a rehabilitation plan for the state's first insurance company failure in nearly a decade.
They launched a marketing process earlier this year that reached more than 50 potential buyers. Twenty-seven signed confidentiality agreements and received detailed financial information.
By late July, eight parties had submitted initial, nonbinding indications of interest. After further due diligence, five submitted revised proposals, and another party submitted a whole-company offer.
The names of the bidders were not released.
The Connecticut Insurance Department is reviewing the bids and expects to decide which to pursue before the end of the year.
“Although there is no certainty that a transaction will occur, the Rehabilitator continues to believe that a transaction has the potential to deliver at least as much, and possibly more, value to policyholders than would be received in a liquidation of the Companies,” the report states.
Mais will leave office Nov. 28 after nearly seven years as commissioner. Gov. Ned Lamont has named Josh Hershman, CEO of Immigrant Life Insurance Co. of America in Stamford, to serve as interim commissioner beginning Dec. 12 and plans to nominate him for the permanent role in February.
The rehabilitator’s team is developing possible structures for a plan to implement the various transaction options. Any plan must ensure policyholders receive at least as much value as they would in a liquidation.
Currently, a court-imposed moratorium caps life insurance death benefit payments at $300,000 and annuity claims at $250,000 while rehabilitation proceeds. As of Sept. 30, claims above those limits totaled $515.1 million, up from $230 million at year-end 2024.
PHL traces its roots to The Phoenix Cos. and specialized in variable universal life insurance and fixed and variable annuities. It was acquired in 2016 by Nassau Reinsurance Group Holdings, backed by private equity firm Golden Gate Capital.
If rehabilitation fails and PHL is ordered into liquidation, state guaranty associations would cover policyholders up to statutory limits, which vary by state. In Connecticut, the maximum is $500,000 per life.
