Firstar plots an acquisition.(Brief Article)

Bank looks to Southeast and West

Firstar Corp. plans to acquire another bank holding company later this year, according to several bank analysts who have had recent discussions with executives of the Milwaukee company.

Wayne Bopp, vice president and bank analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., Milwaukee, said Firstar chief financial officer David Moffett told him of the bank's acquisition plans during Baird's Growth Stock Conference in Chicago earlier this month.

"I was talking with the CFO, and he indicated that Firstar is interested in making an acquisition in the second half of the year," Bopp said.

Analysts say likely acquisition targets for Firstar range from regional banks in the Southeast, Ohio and the West to U.S. Bancorp, Minneapolis.

Of course, U.S. Bancorp is a perennial subject of speculation for acquisition because Firstar president and chief executive officer Jerry Grundhofer's older brother, Jack Grundhofer, is the CEO of U.S. Bancorp. In the past, the mere sight of the two brothers together on a golf course has fueled rumors of a merger …