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Fort Worth-based Higginbotham has acquired Eagan Insurance of Metairie, Louisiana, the firm announced on Monday morning.
The acquisition expands Higginbotham’s presence in southern Louisiana and Gulf Coast Mississippi.
"At Higginbotham, we just celebrated our 75th anniversary last year, so we understand the importance of connection to community, support for clients, and consideration for teammates to longevity," said Rusty Reid, chairman and CEO of Higginbotham, in a statement. "Eagan Insurance has a similar history. They are currently celebrating their 70th anniversary — and the Eagan family name goes back even further, as New Orleans business owners since 1854. We are proud to form a relationship with the company and the people who carry that name."
Eagan Insurance’s roots are in a family funeral business founded in 1854 that eventually began selling insurance. In 1954, Maurice Eagan and four uncles established Eagan Insurance as a separate company.
In 1990, the Eagans sold the funeral home business and Maurice Eagan and his family bought out partners in the insurance agency. Since then, Marc Eagan, Maurice’s son, has been running the company and has grown it into one of the area's largest, with around 10,000 customers and revenues of $25 million, according to news reports.
The firm’s motto is “Family to Family, Business to Business.”
“The area around New Orleans can be like a big village, where everybody knows everybody and wants to do business with people they know and trust," said Marc Eagan, today the firm’s president. “Earning that respect and trust is important to us and always will be. But insurance is getting more complicated every year. We knew we needed to bring on additional resources to continue offering the best client service and team support."
Said Marcus F. Eagan, Eagan vice president and one of three sons of Marc Eagan currently involved in the business: “Higginbotham gives us so much more horsepower, with resources for our team, like marketing support, and for our clients, like the Day Two Services® that enhance coverage with value-added risk management support through the life of each policy. But most important, their culture meshes with ours. We know they're going to help us take care of our clients and take care of our team as well.”