FTC grants early antitrust clearance for Doctors' $1.3 billion ProAssurance deal

By Ashish Tiwari

July 8 - (The Insurer) - The Doctors Company and ProAssurance said on Monday that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has granted early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, clearing a key antitrust hurdle for their $1.3 billion merger.

The move satisfies one of the regulatory conditions for closing the deal, which is expected to occur in the first half of 2026.

Under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act in the U.S., the waiting period is a mandatory pre-merger requirement, which gives antitrust agencies time to review the transaction and assess its potential impact on competition.

The acquisition, announced in March, will combine the second- and fourth-largest medical malpractice insurers in the U.S., creating the largest physician-owned medical liability carrier in the country.

The deal values ProAssurance at $25 per share, a 60% premium to its pre-deal trading price, and includes a mutual termination fee of $52.6 million.

The combined entity is expected to have around $12 billion in assets and $2 billion in pro forma direct written premiums.

Napa, California-based The Doctors Company, an interinsurance exchange, currently manages more than $8 billion in assets, while Birmingham, Alabama-based ProAssurance reported $1.05 billion in gross premiums written in 2024.

AM Best had affirmed stable credit ratings for both insurers and said it does not expect the merger to materially affect their fundamentals.