NEW YORK, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Aquarian Holdings is in

advanced talks to buy U.S. life insurance and annuity provider

Brighthouse Financial ( BHF ) for roughly $70 per share, two

people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The proposed price is significantly above where Brighthouse

closed trading on Thursday, at $45.26 per share, which gave the

company a market value of roughly $2.6 billion.

Talks are considered advanced between Brighthouse and

Aquarian, a holding company focused on insurance and asset

management businesses that is backed by investors including

RedBird Capital Partners and Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala, the

sources said. However, as with any deal negotiations, the

sources cautioned the final price could fluctuate marginally and

there was no guarantee that an agreement will ultimately be

struck.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss

confidential deliberations.

Brighthouse and Aquarian did not respond to requests for

comment.

Bloomberg News reported earlier on Friday that talks between

the two parties were advanced and centered on a range between

$65 and $70 per share.