Mercantile Bancorporation was the largest bank holding company in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

when it was acquired by

Firstar Corporation Firstar Corporation was a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based regional bank holding company that existed from 1853 to 2001. In 2001, Firstar acquired U.S. Bancorp and assumed its name, moving its headquarters to Minneapolis. History Firstar was founded ...

in 1999. The Mercantile Bank of St. Louis was founded in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, in 1850. In 1996, its chief executive Thomas H. Jacobsen began a series of acquisitions, increasing its assets from $15.9 billion to $35.8 billion. One of the biggest acquisitions was that of Mark Twain Bancshares in 1996. At the time of its acquisition by Firstar, Mercantile was a $36 billion multi-bank holding company headquartered in St. Louis operating 500 locations in Missouri,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

and

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

History

In December 1964, the Mercantile Trust Company converted from a state‐chartered trust company into a national bank and was renamed Mercantile Trust Company National Association. Mercantile Trust Company formed a holding company in 1970 called Mercantile Bancorporation to allow it to acquire other banks and to expand beyond St. Louis. Upon the retirement of Donald E. Lasater in 1989, Thomas H. Jacobsen, a vice chairman of Florida-based Barnett Banks, replaced Lasater as president, chief executive, and chairman of Mercantile Bancorporation.

Expansion in Missouri

In November 1991, Mercantile announced the pending acquisition of the

St. Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...

-based Ameribanc with its American Bank subsidiaries for $87 million in stock. The acquisition was completed in April 1992. In August 1993, Mercantile announced the pending acquisition of the St. Louis-based United Postal Bancorp with its United Postal Savings Association subsidiary for $192 million in stock. The acquisition was completed in January 1994. In September 1994, Mercantile announced the pending acquisition of the

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

-based Central Mortgage Bancshares Inc. for $97 million in stock. In January 1995, Mercantile announced the pending acquisition of the

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

-based Southwest Bancshares Inc. for $23 million in stock. In February 1995, Mercantile announced the pending acquisition of the

Sikeston Sikeston is a city located both in southern Scott County and northern New Madrid County, in the state of Missouri, United States. It is situated just north of the "Missouri Bootheel", although many locals consider Sikeston a part of it. By way o ...

-based AmeriFirst Bancorporation with its AmeriFirst Bank subsidiary for $23.6 million in stock. In October 1996, Mercantile announced the pending acquisition of the St. Louis-based Mark Twain Bancshares Inc. with its Mark Twain Bank subsidiary for $855 million in stock. At the time of the announcement, Mercantile had 440 branches in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa and Arkansas while Mark Twain had 39 branches in St. Louis and Kansas City areas. The acquisition was completed in April 1997. In December 1996, Mercantile announced the pending acquisition of the

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

-based Roosevelt Financial Group Inc. with its Roosevelt Bank subsidiary for $1.07 billion in stock and cash. At the time of the announcement, Mercantile had more than 500 branches in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa and Arkansas while Roosevelt had 83 locations in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois. To allow the merger to proceed, the

Federal Reserve Board The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is charged with overseeing the Federal Reserve Banks and with helping implement the mon ...

ordered Mercantile to divest banks in five markets. Due to overlapping branches, Mercantile said it was planning to close 50 branch offices. The acquisition was completed in July 1997. Branches were rebranded in November of 1997.

Expansion in Illinois

In its first expansion move outside of Missouri, Mercantile announced in August 1986 the pending acquisition of the

Alton Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) *Alton (surname) Places Australia *Alton National Park, Queensland *Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario * Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zealand, ...

-based First Bancshares Corp. of Illinois for an undisclosed in stock. The acquisition was completed in February 1987. In August 1991, Mercantile announced the pending acquisition of the Centralia-based Old National Bancshares with its 2 banks for $22 million in stock and cash. The acquisition was completed in December 1991. In July 1995, Mercantile announced the pending acquisition of the Sterling-based First Sterling Bancorp with its First National Bank of Sterling-Rock Falls subsidiary for $24 million. The acquisition was completed in January 1996. In March 1996, Mercantile announced the pending acquisition of the

Freeport Freeport, a variant of free port, may refer to: Places United States *Freeport, California *Freeport, Florida *Freeport, Illinois *Freeport, Indiana *Freeport, Iowa *Freeport, Kansas *Freeport, Maine, a New England town **Freeport (CDP), Maine, the ...

-based Today's Bancorp with its two banks and 12 offices for $87.2 million in cash and stock. In August 1996, Mercantile announced the pending acquisition of the

-based Regional Bancshares Inc. with its Bank of Alton subsidiary for $41 million. In October 1997, Mercantile announced the pending acquisition of the Rockford-based HomeCorp Inc. with its 10-office HomeBanc subsidiary for $45 million in stock. The acquisition was completed in March 1997 for $51 million. In February 1998, Mercantile announced the pending acquisition of the

-based Firstbank of Illinois Company for $697 million in stock. At the time of the announcement, Firstbank had 48 offices in Illinois and Missouri. The acquisition was completed in July 1998. In August 1998, Mercantile announced the pending acquisition of the Rock Island-based Financial Service Corporation of the Midwest with its Rock Island Bank subsidiary for $118 million in stock. The acquisition was completed in August 1998.

Expansion in Kansas

In July 1992, Mercantile announced the pending acquisition of the family-owned Johnson County-based MidAmerican Corp. and Johnson County Bankshares Inc. for $129 million in stock. The acquisition was completed in January 1993. In December 1995, Mercantile announced the pending acquisition of the Topeka-based Peoples State Bank for $94 million. The acquisition was completed in August 1996.

Expansion in Iowa

In July 1993, Mercantile announced the pending acquisition of the

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat * Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place. Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Antarctica *King George Island (S ...

-based Metro Bancorporation with its subsidiary Waterloo Savings Bank for $55 million in stock. The acquisition was completed in January 1994. In December 1994, Mercantile announced plans to acquire the

Davenport Davenport may refer to: Places Australia *Davenport, Northern Territory, a locality * Hundred of Davenport, cadastral unit in South Australia **Davenport, South Australia, suburb of Port Augusta **District Council of Davenport, former local govern ...

-based Plains Spirit Financial Corporation with its First Federal Savings Bank of Iowa subsidiary for an undisclosed amount. In August 1995, Mercantile announced plans to acquire the

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

-based Hawkeye Bancorp with its 65 bank offices for $351 million in stock. In May 1998, Mercantile announced plans to acquire the

Iowa City Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the time ...

-based First Financial Bancorporation and its First National Bank Iowa subsidiary for $169 million in stock. The acquisition was completed in September 1998.

Expansion in Arkansas

In December 1994, Mercantile announced plans to acquire the

North Little Rock North Little Rock is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, across the Arkansas from Little Rock in the central part of the state. The population was 64,591 at the 2020 census. In 2019 the estimated population was 65,903, making it the seventh-mo ...

-based TC Bankshares Inc. for $155.7 million in stock. In July 1997, Mercantile announced plans to acquire the Arkadelphia-based Horizon Bancorp for an unknown amount in stock. The acquisition was completed in February 1998.

Expansion in Kentucky

In January 1998, Mercantile announced plans to acquire the Paducah-based CBT Corporation, the holding company for four banks, for $285 million in stock. The acquisition was completed in July 1998.

Acquisition by Firstar

Just five months after Star Banc Corporation completed the acquisition of Firstar Corporation to form the new Firstar in November 1998, the newly combined Firstar announced in May 1999 the pending acquisition of Mercantile Bancorporation for $10.6 billion in stock. The acquisition was completed in September 1999. After the merger, Jerry Grundhofer remained as president and chief executive officer of Firstar. Thomas H. Jacobsen, Mercantile's chief executive, became chairman of Firstar.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Defunct banks of the United States Banks based in Missouri Companies based in St. Louis Banks established in 1850 Banks disestablished in 1999 Defunct companies based in Missouri U.S. Bancorp 1999 mergers and acquisitions