Commerce Bancshares in Kansas City, Mo., has agreed to buy municipal bond underwriter and adviser L.J. Hart & Co.
The $32.6 billion-asset Commerce didn’t disclose the price it paid for the St. Louis, Mo., company.
L.J. Hart has advised more than 300 Missouri public school districts and nearly a quarter of the 114 Missouri county governments. It has underwritten more than 2,600 municipal financings for a par value of more thatn $7.3 billion.
“This transaction brings together two like-minded Missouri-based institutions that share a fundamental mission of building client relationships through great customer service,” Bob Holmes, chairman and CEO of Commerce Bank – St. Louis, said in the release.
L.J. Hart & Company will become part of Commerce’s institutional fixed-income business.
Commerce will retain the L.J. Hart & Co. brand, staff members and its office in Chesterfield, Mo.