Sec Form 13D Filing - AXA FINANCIAL INC @ ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN L.P.

NUMBER OF

SHARES

BENEFICIALLY

OWNED BY

EACH

REPORTING

PERSON

WITH

SOLE VOTING POWER

See Item 5

SHARED VOTING POWER

See Item 5

SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER

See Item 5

SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER

See Item 5

Insider filing report for Changes in Beneficial Ownership

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Schedule 13G is a shorter version of Schedule 13D with fewer reporting requirements.

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 13D

Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(Amendment No. 16)

ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN L.P.

(f/k/a Alliance Capital Management L.P.)

(Name of Issuer)

Units of Limited Partnership Interest

(Title of Class of Securities)

N/A

(CUSIP Number)

Anders Malmström

Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

AXA Equitable Holdings, Inc.

1290 Avenue of the Americas

New York, New York 10104

(212) 554-1234

(Name, Address and Telephone Number of Person Authorized to Receive Notices and Communications)

With a copy to:

Helen Browne, General Counsel

AXA, 25, avenue Matignon

75008 Paris, France

011-331-40-75-57-00

April 23, 2018

(Date of Event which Requires Filing of this Statement)

If the filing person has previously filed a statement on Schedule 13G to report the acquisition which is the subject of this Schedule 13D, and is filing this schedule because of ss. 240.13d-1(e), 240.13d-1(f) or 240.13d-1(g), check the following box. ☐

NOTE: Schedules filed in paper format shall include a signed original and five copies of the schedule, including all exhibits. See Rule 13d-7 for other parties to whom copies are to be sent.

*	The remainder of this cover page shall be filled out for a reporting person’s initial filing on this form with respect to the subject class of securities, and for any subsequent amendment containing information which would alter disclosures provided in a prior cover page.

The information required on the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be “filed” for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes).

(Continued on following pages)


CUSIP No. N/A


1		NAMES OF REPORTING PERSONS I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSONS (entities only) AXA 98-0342809
2		CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP (See Instructions) (a) ☐ (b) ☐
3		SEC USE ONLY
4		SOURCE OF FUNDS (See Instructions) OO
5		CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEMS 2(d) or 2(e) ☐
6		CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION France


CUSIP No. N/A


1		NAMES OF REPORTING PERSONS I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSONS AXA Assurances I.A.R.D. Mutuelle
2		CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP (See Instructions) (a) ☒ (b) ☐
3		SEC USE ONLY
4		SOURCE OF FUNDS (See Instructions) OO
5		CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEMS 2(d) or 2(e) ☐
6		CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION France


CUSIP No. N/A


1		NAMES OF REPORTING PERSONS I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSONS AXA Assurances Vie Mutuelle
2		CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP (See Instructions) (a) ☒ (b) ☐
3		SEC USE ONLY
4		SOURCE OF FUNDS (See Instructions) OO
5		CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEMS 2(d) or 2(e) ☐
6		CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION France


CUSIP No. N/A


1		NAMES OF REPORTING PERSONS I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSONS AXA Equitable Holdings, Inc. 90-0226248
2		CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP (See Instructions) (a) ☐ (b) ☐
3		SEC USE ONLY
4		SOURCE OF FUNDS (See Instructions) OO
5		CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEMS 2(d) or 2(e) ☐
6		CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION Delaware


CUSIP No. N/A


1		NAMES OF REPORTING PERSONS I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSONS AXA Financial, Inc. 13-3623351
2		CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP (See Instructions) (a) ☐ (b) ☐
3		SEC USE ONLY
4		SOURCE OF FUNDS (See Instructions) OO
5		CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEMS 2(d) or 2(e) ☐
6		CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION Delaware


CUSIP No. N/A


1		NAMES OF REPORTING PERSONS I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSONS AXA Equitable Financial Services, LLC 52-2197822
2		CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP (See Instructions) (a) ☐ (b) ☐
3		SEC USE ONLY
4		SOURCE OF FUNDS (See Instructions) OO
5		CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEMS 2(d) or 2(e) ☐
6		CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION Delaware


CUSIP No. N/A


1		NAMES OF REPORTING PERSONS I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSONS AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company 13-5570651
2		CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP (See Instructions) (a) ☐ (b) ☐
3		SEC USE ONLY
4		SOURCE OF FUNDS (See Instructions) OO
5		CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEMS 2(d) or 2(e) ☐
6		CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION New York


CUSIP No. N/A


1		NAMES OF REPORTING PERSONS I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSONS ACMC, LLC 13-2677213
2		CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP (See Instructions) (a) ☐ (b) ☐
3		SEC USE ONLY
4		SOURCE OF FUNDS (See Instructions) OO
5		CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEMS 2(d) or 2(e) ☐
6		CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION Delaware


CUSIP No. N/A


1		NAMES OF REPORTING PERSONS I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSONS (entities only) MONY Life Insurance Company of America 86-0222062
2		CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP (See Instructions) (a) ☐ (b) ☐
3		SEC USE ONLY
4		SOURCE OF FUNDS (See Instructions) OO
5		CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEMS 2(d) or 2(e) ☐
6		CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION Arizona


CUSIP No. N/A


1		NAMES OF REPORTING PERSONS I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NOS. OF ABOVE PERSONS AXA-IM HOLDING U.S. INC. 68-0461436
2		CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP (See Instructions) (a) ☐ (b) ☐
3		SEC USE ONLY
4		SOURCE OF FUNDS (See Instructions) OO
5		CHECK BOX IF DISCLOSURE OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO ITEMS 2(d) or 2(e) ☐
6		CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION Delaware

This Amendment No. 16 amends the Statement on Schedule 13D (“Schedule 13D”) initially filed on June 30, 2000 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as amended by Amendment No. 1 to the Schedule 13D filed on November 27, 2002, Amendment No. 2 to the Schedule 13D filed on March 9, 2004, Amendment No. 3 to the Schedule 13D filed on December 22, 2004 (“Amendment No. 3”), Amendment No. 4 to the Schedule 13D filed on March 7, 2007, Amendment No. 5 to the Schedule 13D filed on December 19, 2008 (“Amendment No. 5”), Amendment No. 6 to the Schedule 13D filed on January 8, 2009, Amendment No.7 to the Schedule 13D filed on April 1, 2009, Amendment No. 8 to the Schedule 13D filed on December 16, 2011, Amendment No. 9 to the Schedule 13D filed on September 23, 2013, Amendment No. 10 to the Schedule 13D filed on December 20, 2013, Amendment No. 11 to the Schedule 13D filed on January 5, 2016, Amendment No. 12 to the Schedule 13D filed on May 1, 2017 (“Amendment No. 12”), Amendment No. 13 to the Schedule 13D filed on July 3, 2017, Amendment No. 14 to the Schedule 13D filed on December 13, 2017 and Amendment No. 15 to the Schedule 13D filed on March 6, 2018, which Schedule 13D relates to the units of limited partnership interest (“AB Capital Units”) of AllianceBernstein L.P. (formerly known as Alliance Capital Management L.P.), a Delaware limited partnership (“AllianceBernstein”).

ITEM 2.

IDENTITY AND BACKGROUND

Item 2 of the Schedule 13D is hereby amended and restated in its entirety as follows.

This statement is being filed by (i) AXA, (ii) the Mutuelles AXA, (iii) AXA Equitable Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Equitable Holdings”), (iv) AXF, (v) AXFS, (vi) AXA Equitable, (vii) ACMC, (viii) MONY Life Insurance Company of America, an Arizona stock life insurance company, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of AXFS (“MLOA”), and (ix) AXA-IM Holding U.S. Inc., a Delaware corporation, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Equitable Holdings (“AXA-IM Holding”). AXA, the Mutuelles AXA, Equitable Holdings, AXF, AXFS, AXA Equitable, ACMC, MLOA, and AXA-IM Holding are hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Reporting Persons.”

AXA. AXA is a holding company for an international group of insurance and related financial service companies, including each of the Reporting Persons. The address of AXA’s principal business and office is 25, avenue Matignon, 75008 Paris, France. As of December 31, 2017, the Mutuelles AXA, directly beneficially owned 14.13% of AXA’s ordinary shares (representing 23.97% of the voting power). In addition, as of December 31, 2016, 0.02% of the ordinary shares of AXA without the power to vote were owned by certain subsidiaries of AXA.

The Mutuelles AXA. The Mutuelles AXA are AXA Assurances I.A.R.D. Mutuelle and AXA Assurances Vie Mutuelle. AXA Courtage Assurance Mutuelle was merged into AXA Assurances I.A.R.D Mutuelle as of December 31, 2006. Each of the Mutuelles AXA is a mutual insurance company organized under the laws of France. The address of each of the Mutuelles AXA’s principal place of business and office is 313 Terrasses de l’Arche, 92727 Naterre Cedex, France.

Equitable Holdings and Subsidiaries. Equitable Holdings is a holding company for a group of insurance and related financial service companies, including AXF and its subsidiaries. The address of Equitable Holdings’s principal place of business and office is 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10104.

AXF and Subsidiaries. AXF is a holding company. As of December 31, 2016, 100% of the outstanding shares of common stock of AXF were beneficially owned indirectly by AXA. AXF and its subsidiaries (including AXA Equitable and MLOA, each an indirect wholly owned subsidiary) provide diversified financial services to a broad spectrum of financial advisory, insurance and investment management customers. AXFS, whose sole member is AXF, wholly owns (i) AXA Equitable, which in turn wholly owns ACMC, and (ii) MLOA. ACMC, AXFS and AXF are holding companies. The address of the principal place of business and office of AXF, AXFS, AXA Equitable and ACMC is 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10104 and of MLOA is 525 Washington Boulevard, Jersey City, New Jersey 07310.

AXA-IM Holding. AXA-IM Holding is a holding company for a group of asset management companies. The address of AXA-IM Holding’s principal place of business and office is 100 West Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830.

The (i) name, (ii) residence or business address, (iii) present principal occupation or employment and the name, principal place of business and address of any corporation or other organization in which such employment is conducted and (iv) citizenship of each of the executive officers and directors of each of the Reporting Persons are set forth on Exhibit 8 hereto. None of the Reporting Persons nor, to the knowledge of any Reporting Person, any natural person named in Exhibit 8 hereto has, during the last five years, been convicted in a criminal proceeding (excluding traffic violations or similar misdemeanors) or was a party to a civil proceeding of a judicial or administrative body of competent jurisdiction and as a result of which any such Reporting Person or person was or is subject to a judgment, decree or final order enjoining future violations of, or prohibiting or mandating activities subject to, Federal or state securities laws or finding any violation with respect to such laws.

ITEM 3.

SOURCE AND AMOUNT OF FUNDS OR OTHER CONSIDERATION

Item 3 of the Schedule 13D is hereby amended by inserting the following paragraph at the end thereof.

Equitable Holdings will use available cash to purchase the AB Capital Units described in Item 4 below.

ITEM 4.

PURPOSE OF TRANSACTION

Item 4 of the Schedule 13D is hereby amended by inserting the following paragraphs at the end thereof.

Restructuring Transactions

On April 23, 2018, Equitable Holdings entered into a Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with Coliseum Reinsurance Company (“Coliseum”) relating to the purchase and sale of all of the AB Capital Units owned by Coliseum. Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, Equitable Holdings purchased from Coliseum 8,160,000 AB Capital Units owned by Coliseum at a purchase price of $26.54 per AB Capital Unit.

On April 23, 2018, Equitable Holdings entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement (the “Stock Purchase Agreement”) with AXA Investment Managers S.A. (“AXA IM S.A.”) relating to the purchase and sale of all of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of AXA-IM Holding. As a result of the transactions contemplated by the Stock Purchase Agreement, Equitable Holdings indirectly beneficially owns the 41,934,582 AB Capital Units owned AXA-IM Holdings.

ITEM 5.

INTEREST IN SECURITIES OF THE ISSUER

Items 5(a), (b) and (c) are hereby amended and restated in their entirety as set forth below.

(a) & (b) At the close of business on April 23, 2018 and immediately following the transactions described in Item 4 above, Equitable Holdings beneficially owned directly 2,312,163 Units representing approximately 2.5% of the Units outstanding and 8,160,000 AB Capital Units representing approximately 3.1% of the AB Capital Units outstanding; AXF did not beneficially own directly any Units and beneficially owned directly 43,032,758 AB Capital Units representing approximately 16.2% of the AB Capital Units outstanding; AXA Equitable did not beneficially own directly any Units or AB Capital Units; ACMC beneficially owned directly 1,444,356 Units representing approximately 1.5% of the Units outstanding and 74,406,933 AB Capital Units representing approximately 28.0% of the AB Capital Units outstanding; MLOA did not beneficially own directly any Units and beneficially owned directly 2,587,472 AB Capital Units representing approximately 1.0% of the AB Capital Units outstanding; and AXA-IM Holding did not beneficially own directly any Units and beneficially owned directly 41,934,582 AB Capital Units representing approximately 15.8% of the AB Capital Units outstanding. Equitable Holdings, ACMC, AXF, MLOA and AXA-IM Holding have the sole power to vote or direct the vote and the sole power to dispose or direct the disposition of each of their respective directly owned Units and AB Capital Units. By reason of its ownership interest in AXF, AXFS, ACMC, AXA Equitable, MLOA and AXA-IM Holding, Equitable Holdings may be deemed to beneficially own indirectly, and to have voting and dispositive power with respect to the 1,444,356 Units owned directly by ACMC which, together with the 2,312,163 Units owned directly by Equitable Holdings, represent approximately 3.9% of the Units outstanding, and the 74,406,933 AB Capital Units owned directly by ACMC, the 43,032,758 AB Capital Units owned directly by AXF, the 41,934,582 AB Capital Units owned directly by AXA-IM Holding and the 2,587,472 AB Capital Units owned directly by MLOA, which, together with the 8,160,000 AB Capital Units owned directly by Equitable Holdings, represent approximately 63.3% of the AB Capital Units outstanding. By reason of its ownership interest in AXFS, ACMC and MLOA, AXF may be deemed to beneficially own indirectly, and to have voting and dispositive power with respect to the 1,444,356 Units owned directly by ACMC representing approximately 1.5% of the Units outstanding, and the 74,406,933 AB Capital Units owned directly by ACMC and the 2,587,472 AB Capital Units owned directly by MLOA, which, together with the 43,032,758 AB Capital Units owned directly by AXF, represent approximately 44.7% of the AB Capital Units outstanding. By reason of its ownership interest in ACMC, AXA Equitable may be deemed to beneficially own indirectly, and to have voting and dispositive power with respect to, the 1,444,356 Units owned directly by ACMC representing approximately 1.5% of the Units outstanding, and the 74,406,933 AB Capital Units owned directly by ACMC representing 28.0% of the AB Capital Units outstanding. By reason of its ownership interest in ACMC, AXA Equitable and MLOA, AXFS may be deemed to beneficially own indirectly, and to have voting and dispositive power with respect to, the 1,444,356 Units owned directly by ACMC representing approximately 1.5% of the Units outstanding, and the 74,406,933 AB Capital Units owned directly by ACMC, and the 2,587,472 AB Capital Units owned directly by MLOA which collectively represent approximately 29.0% of the AB Capital Units outstanding.

(This excludes Units acquired by the Reporting Persons and their affiliates solely for investment purposes on behalf of client discretionary accounts.)

AXA, by reason of its indirect ownership of 100% of the outstanding shares of common stock of Equitable Holdings, may be deemed to beneficially own all of the Units and AB Capital Units owned directly and indirectly by Equitable Holdings. In addition, the Mutuelles AXA, as a group, may be deemed to be beneficial owners of such Units and AB Capital Units. Each of AXA and the Mutuelles AXA expressly declares that the filing of this Schedule 13D shall not be construed as an admission that it is, for purposes of Section 13(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the beneficial owner of such Units or AB Capital Units.

Other than as described in Item 4 above, none of the Reporting Persons owns any Units or AB Capital Units or options or other rights to acquire Units or AB Capital Units presently or within 60 days.

To the knowledge of the Reporting Persons, none of the directors and executive officers of the Reporting Persons listed in Exhibit 8 hereto own any Units or AB Capital Units or options or other rights to acquire Units or AB Capital Units presently or within 60 days.

(c) Other than as described in Item 4 above, during the 60 days preceding the filing of this Amendment, no transactions in Units or AB Capital Units were made by the Reporting Persons, or, to the knowledge of the Reporting Persons, any natural person named in Exhibit 8 hereto.

ITEM 7.

Material to be Filed as Exhibits


Exhibit 1		Filing Agreement with respect to the Schedule 13D among the Reporting Persons (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 17 to the Schedule 13D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 4, 1992)

Exhibit 2		Power of Attorney with respect to AXA (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 13 filed with Amendment No. 19 to the AB Holding Schedule 13D on January 5, 2016)

Exhibit 3		Power of Attorney with respect to AXA Assurances I.A.R.D. Mutuelle (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 14 filed with Amendment No. 19 to the AB Holding Schedule 13D on January 5, 2016)

Exhibit 4		Power of Attorney with respect to AXA Assurances VIE Mutuelle (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 15 filed with Amendment No. 19 to the AB Holding Schedule 13D on January 5, 2016)

Exhibit 5		Power of Attorney with respect to AXA Equitable Holdings, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 16 filed with Amendment No. 19 to the AB Holding Schedule 13D on January 5, 2016)

Exhibit 6		Power of Attorney with respect to AXA-IM Holding U.S. Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 24 filed with Amendment No. 19 to the AB Holding Schedule 13D)

Exhibit 7		Unit Purchase Agreement between Peter S. Kraus and AXA Equitable Holdings, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to AllianceBernstein L.P.’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 1, 2017)

Exhibit 8		Information with respect to the Executive Officers and Directors of AXA Equitable Holdings, Inc.

Exhibit 9		Purchase Agreement, dated as of April 23, 2018, by and between AXA Equitable Holdings, Inc. and Coliseum Reinsurance Company

Exhibit 10		Stock Purchase Agreement, dated as of April 23, 2018, by and between AXA Investment Managers S.A. and AXA Equitable Holdings, Inc.

SIGNATURES