Firstar was founded in 1853 in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as Farmer's and Millers Bank. It became First Wisconsin National Bank in 1919 as a result of internal evolution as well as mergers.
First Wisconsin Corporation In 1929, First Wisconsin reorganized as a holding company,
Wisconsin Bankshares Corporation, for the purpose of acquiring other banks. The holding company was renamed
First Wisconsin Bankshares Corporation in 1960. In 1974, the name of holding company was changed again to
First Wisconsin Corporation and finally to
Firstar Corporation in 1988. Some of the subsidiary banks did not adopt its parent's new corporate name until as late as 1992 when the First Wisconsin brand was finally retired. First Wisconsin constructed a new 42 stories tall headquarters building in Milwaukee that was called the
First Wisconsin Center and is the tallest building in Wisconsin. This building was opened in 1973. Unusual for a small regional bank, First Wisconsin was active during the 1970s and 1980s in lending money to companies in South America to assist those companies in the purchase of American products. Because of First Wisconsin's involvement in the international loan market, First Wisconsin became involved in the
Latin American debt crisis and lost some money when some of their clients defaulted. In January 1987, Roger Fitzsimonds replaced Gary B. Rafn as president and chief operating officer of First Wisconsin Corp. In February 1991, Roger Fitzsimonds replaced John Hendee Jr. as chairman and chief executive officer of Firstar Corp.
Expansion in Wisconsin In February 1989, Firstar announced the pending acquisition of the
Elkhorn-based Elkhorn Bankshares Corporation for an undisclosed amount. In September 1991, Firstar announced the pending acquisition of the
Wauwatosa-based Federated Bank for $33 million in cash and stock. In February 1994, Firstar announced the pending acquisition of the
Franksville-based First Southeast Banking Corporation with its First Southeast Bank subsidiary for $55.4 million in stock.
Expansion in Illinois First Wisconsin made its first expansion move outside the state of Wisconsin in September 1986 by announcing the pending acquisition of
Glen Ellyn-based Du Page Bancshares Inc. with its Du Page Bank & Trust Co. subsidiary for $18.2 million in stock. In October 1986, First Wisconsin announced the pending acquisition of the
Naperville-based Naper Financial Corporation with its two subsidiary banks for $43 million in cash. In March 1987, First Wisconsin announced the pending acquisition of the
Northbrook-based North Shore Bancorp Inc. with its Bank of the North Shore subsidiary for $6.16 million. In August 1992, Firstar announced the pending acquisition of the
Deerfield-based DSB Corporation with its Deerfield State Bank subsidiary for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition was completed in February 1993. In August 1994, Firstar announced the pending acquisition of the
Chicago-based First Colonial Bankshares Corporation for $314 million in stock. At the time of the announcement, First Colonial was the parent of 17 community banks with a total of 30 locations. The acquisition was completed in February 1995. In August 1994, Firstar announced the pending acquisition of the
Moline-based First Moline Financial Corporation with its First Federal Savings Bank subsidiary for $9.8 million in stock. The acquisition was completed in April 1995.
Expansion in Minnesota First Wisconsin entered the state of Minnesota for the first time by announcing in March 1987 the pending acquisition of the
St. Louis Park-based Shelard Bancshares for $25 million in cash. At the time of the announcement, Shelard Bancshares was the parent of two banks with five locations. In May 1988, First Wisconsin announced the pending acquisition of the
Bloomington-based Metropolitan Bank Group for an undisclosed amount. At the time of the announcement, Metropolitan was the parent of six banks. The acquisition was completed in November 1988. In July 1988, First Wisconsin announced the pending acquisition of the
St. Anthony-based St. Anthony Bancorp. with its St. Anthony National Bank subsidiary for an undisclosed amount. In September 1988, First Wisconsin announced the pending acquisition of the
Stillwater-based Stillwater Holding Company with its two bank subsidiaries for an undisclosed amount. In January 1990, Firstar announced the pending acquisition of the
St. Louis Park-based First Western Bank with five branch offices for an undisclosed amount. In August 1994, Firstar announced the pending acquisition of
Wayzata-based Investors Bank Corporation with its Investors Savings Bank subsidiary for $106 million in stock. The acquisition was completed in April 1995. In January 1996, Firstar announced the pending acquisition of
Saint Paul-based American Bancorporation for $220 million in stock and cash. The acquisition was completed in July 1996.
Expansion in Arizona In February 1989, Firstar announced the pending acquisition of
Phoenix-based Metro Bancorp with its two branch office Metropolitan Bank subsidiary for an undisclosed amount.
Expansion in Iowa In August 1990, Firstar announced the pending acquisition of
Des Moines-based Banks of Iowa with its 12 subsidiary banks for $200 million in stock. The acquisition was completed in April 1991. In July 1995, Firstar announced the pending acquisition of
Dubuque-based Harvest Financial Corporation with its Harvest Savings Bank subsidiary for $32.7 million in stock. The acquisition was completed in January 1996 for $35.9 million in stock.
Acquisition by Star Banc Corporation By the end of 1997, some stock market analysts speculated that Firstar was a prime takeover candidate based upon the performance of its stock in recent months and in view of the recent acquisition of First of America by
National City and rumors of
Banc One was in the process of acquiring
First Chicago NBD. In July 1998,
Cincinnati, Ohio-based
Star Banc Corporation (formerly First National Cincinnati Corporation), parent of Star Bank, announced the pending acquisition of Firstar Corporation for $7.3 billion in stock. At the time of the announcement, Firstar had banking offices in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Arizona, Iowa, Ohio, and Missouri while Star Banc had banking offices in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Under the merger agreement, former Firstar board members would have 14 out of 32 directors seats on the board of the new corporation and could help control the direction of the new combined company.
Expansion in Missouri Just five months later the newly combined Firstar announced in May 1999 the pending acquisition of
St. Louis-based
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. Firstar had previously entered Tennessee by inheriting existing branch offices from Star Banc.
U.S. Bancorp In October 2000, Firstar announced the pending acquisition of
U.S. Bancorp of
Minneapolis, Minnesota for $21 Billion in stock. Firstar completed its buyout of U.S. Bancorp on February 27, 2001 and changed its name to U.S. Bancorp. Under the merger agreement, Jerry Grundhofer, president and chief executive officer of Firstar, would continue in those positions in the combined company while his older brother,
John Grundhofer, chairman, president and chief executive officer of U.S. Bancorp, would serve as chairman of the board in the combined company until his planned retirement on December 31, 2002. While Firstar was the nominal survivor, the merged company took the more recognizable U.S. Bancorp name and moved to U.S. Bancorp's old headquarters in Minneapolis.
Bremer Bank of
Saint Paul, Minnesota purchased the 11 Minneapolis-area Firstar offices while Liberty Bank of
West Des Moines, Iowa purchased the 2 Council Bluffs offices. To this day, U.S. Bancorp retains Star Banc/Firstar's pre-2000 stock price history. All of present-day U.S. Bancorp's SEC filings before 1998 are under Star Banc, and all filings from 1998 to 2000 are under Firstar. ==See also==