MED-MAL MERGER:

ProAssurance Corporation and Physicians Insurance Company of Wisconsin, Inc. have agreed to merge PIC Wisconsin into ProAssurance through a proposed stock-for-stock transaction.

The companies said that the merger will expand ProAssurance’s presence in the upper Midwest and provide access to states ProAssurance does not yet serve. The transaction should close in mid-2006.

The definitive agreement calls for each share of PIC Wisconsin stock to be converted into shares of ProAssurance stock having a value of $5,000. The exchange ratio is based on the average closing price of a share of ProAssurance stock on the ten trading days preceding the effective date of the merger.

Victor T. Adamo, president of ProAssurance, said ProAssurance expects to add more than 9,000 policyholders as it expands its footprint west into Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, and South Dakota, and adds to its business in Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas.

The proposed transaction will require the approval of PIC Wisconsin’s stockholders and state and federal regulators.