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Less than a week after consummating its marriage with First Chicago NBD, Bank One Corp. is again talking about acquisition.
The merger with First Chicago made Bank One the nation's fifth-largest bank, but it still needs to bulk up on the investment-banking side.
First Chicago bought Detroit-based Roney & Co. in May for $95 million. But Vice Chairman David Vitale, a former First Chicago NBD executive, told Bloomberg News last week that Bank One is shopping for another regional investment bank.
"People are starting to rethink the business," he said. "We're interested in regional-type firms if they become available."
Roney gave the bank an entry into municipal and corporate-debt underwriting, but it's a relatively small player limited to the Midwest.
"I think they'd like to have more presence than just Roney," said Brad VanderPloeg, an analyst with Everen Securities Inc. in Chicago. "It makes some sense."
Despite the $18.9 billion price tag of the First Chicago NBD takeover, Bank One still has deep pockets, he...