Boatmen’s Bancshares Inc. said it has agreed...

Boatmen’s Bancshares Inc. said it has agreed to acquire its St. Louis rival Centerre Bancorp in a stock deal valued at $467.4 million. Centerre had agreed in April to merge with another St. Louis bank, Mercantile Bancorp, in a stock swap valued at $35 a share, far short of the $60 a share that Boatmen’s is willing to pay. The deal with Mercantile quickly fell by the wayside once Boatmen’s entered the picture. Boatmen’s is Missouri’s largest banking firm with $9.59 billion in assets. Centerre is the state’s fourth-largest banking firm with assets of $5.12 billion.