BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ProAssurance
Corporation (NYSE: PRA) announced today that it will acquire Mid-Continent
General Agency for an undisclosed price. Mid-Continent is a Managing General
Agent, based in Houston, producing about $25 million a year in premiums from
ancillary healthcare providers and other professional liability coverages.
Through the third quarter of 2008, Mid-Continent has underwritten
approximately $1.5 million of premium for ProAssurance. The transaction is
expected to close in January 2009.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081024/PROASSURANCELOGO )
"We have worked with Mid-Continent for a number of years, and have been
impressed by the quality of the people and the business they have produced for
us," said Stan Starnes, the Chief Executive Officer of ProAssurance. He added,
"Bringing Mid-Continent into our organization will not only provide a steady
stream of well underwritten, profitable business, it will expand our presence
in the growing market for ancillary healthcare providers. This is a segment of
the medical professional liability market that we think will continue to
experience significant expansion as healthcare evolves in the coming years."
"We're excited about the opportunity to become part of ProAssurance," said
Philip G. Cabaud, the President of Mid-Continent. He said ProAssurance's
expansion into this segment of the healthcare market will fill an important
niche. "The market we serve is looking for a stable, high-quality specialty
insurer such as ProAssurance. There are a number of opportunities that we
believe we can capitalize on with the backing of ProAssurance and its
financial strength," Cabaud said.
Mid-Continent will produce business for ProAssurance's Excess & Surplus
Lines subsidiary, Red Mountain Casualty, but will continue to place some
business into other established markets with which it is already doing
business. ProAssurance will derive commission income from business Mid-
Continent places with other companies.
About ProAssurance
ProAssurance Corporation is the nation's fifth largest writer of medical
professional liability insurance and is growing its legal professional
liability business. ProAssurance is recognized as one of the top performing
insurance companies in America by virtue of its inclusion in the Ward's 50 for
the past two years.
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements in this news release that are not historical facts are
specifically identified as forward-looking statements. These statements are
based upon our estimates and anticipation of future events and are subject to
certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary
materially from the expected results described in the forward-looking
statements.
Forward-looking statements are identified by words such as, but not
limited to, "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "hope," "hopeful,"
"intend," "may," "optimistic," "potential," "preliminary," "project,"
"should," "will," and other analogous expressions. There are numerous
important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially
from those in the forward-looking statements. Thus, sentences and phrases that
we use to convey our view of future events and trends are expressly designated
as forward-looking statements as are sections of this news release clearly
identified as giving our outlook on future business.
Forward-looking statements relating to our business include, among other
things: statements concerning liquidity and capital requirements, return on
equity, financial ratios, net income, premiums, losses and loss reserves,
premium rates and retention of current business, competition and market
conditions, the expansion of product lines, the development or acquisition of
business in new geographical areas, the availability of acceptable
reinsurance, actions by regulators and rating agencies, court actions,
legislative actions, payment or performance of obligations under indebtedness,
payment of dividends, and other matters.
These forward-looking statements highlight significant risks, assumptions
and uncertainties, including, among other things, the following important
factors that could affect the actual outcome of future events:
-- general economic conditions, either nationally or in our market area,
that are different than anticipated;
-- regulatory and legislative actions or decisions that adversely affect
our business plans or operations;
-- inflation, particularly in loss costs trends;
-- changes in the interest rate environment;
-- performance of financial markets affecting the fair value of our
investments or making it difficult to determine the value of our investments;
-- changes in laws or government regulations affecting medical
professional liability insurance;
-- changes to our ratings assigned by rating agencies;
-- the effects of changes in the healthcare delivery system;
-- uncertainties inherent in the estimate of loss and loss adjustment
expense reserves and reinsurance, and changes in the availability, cost,
quality, or collectability of insurance/reinsurance;
-- the results of litigation, including pre-or-post-trial motions, trials
and/or appeals we undertake;
-- bad faith litigation which may arise from our handling of any
particular claim, including failure to settle;
-- changes in competition among insurance providers and related pricing
weaknesses in some markets;
-- loss of independent agents;
-- our ability to purchase reinsurance and collect payments from our
reinsurers;
-- increases in guaranty fund assessments;
-- our ability to achieve continued growth through expansion into other
states or through acquisitions or business combinations;
-- the expected benefits from acquisitions may not be achieved or may be
delayed longer than expected due to, among other reasons, business disruption,
loss of customers and employees, increased operating costs or inability to
achieve cost savings, and assumption of greater than expected liabilities;
-- changes in accounting policies and practices that may be adopted by our
regulatory agencies and the Financial Accounting Standards Board;
-- changes in our organization, compensation and benefit plans;
-- our ability to recruit and retain senior management; and
-- our proposed transaction with PICA may not be approved by PICA's mutual
policyholder or regulators.
Investors should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date made. The factors listed above
could affect our financial performance and could cause actual results for
future periods to differ materially from any opinions or statements expressed
with respect to future periods in any current statements. Except as required
by law or regulations, we do not undertake and specifically decline any
obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions that may be made to
any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the
date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or
unanticipated events.
Our results may differ materially from those we expect and discuss in any
forward-looking statements. The principal risk factors that may cause these
differences are described in various documents we file with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, such as our current reports on Form 8-K, and our regular
reports on Forms 10-Q and 10-K, particularly in "Item 1A, Risk Factors.
SOURCE ProAssurance Corporation
Contact: Frank B. O'Neil, Sr. Vice President, Corporate Communications & Investor Relations, ProAssurance Corporation, +1-800-282-6242, +1-205-877- 4461, foneil@ProAssurance.com