Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton announced Tuesday that they are postponing their merger from April 1 to July 1, due to the rapidly moving COVID-19 pandemic.

"While we are well-positioned to execute the combination on April 1, we believe the decision to postpone is in the best interest of our attorneys, staff, and clients," the firms said in a joint statement on Tuesday afternoon.

"Postponing the merger will allow our attorneys to remain focused on excellent client care and will allow all our people to prioritize the health and safety of their families and themselves at this difficult time," the announcement said. "As we continue to navigate the unprecedented challenges posed by COVID-19, we look forward to becoming Troutman Pepper on July 1."

The firms' partnerships approved the merger on Jan. 9, after several months of talks. The two firms had projected they would generate gross revenue of more than $900 million post-merger, which would push the combined firm into the top 50 of the Am Law 100, the American Lawyer's ranking of the nation's highest-grossing firms.

Troutman reported gross revenue of $549.6 million for 2019, while Pepper reported $349.4 million in revenue.

Troutman and Pepper said they have developed a joint COVID-19 resource center for clients, at http://covid19.troutman.com or https://covid19.pepperlaw.com/, that the firms are regularly updating.