Commerce Bancshares Chosen As Finalist For The Bain Award For Strategy Excellence.

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 27, 1998--

Award Recognizes Midwest Companies Whose Strategy Best Reflects

Factors Most Critical to Achieving Sustained Profits and Growth

Commerce Bancshares, Inc., (Nasdaq:CBSH) has been recognized as one of 12 finalists for The Bain Award for Strategy Excellence, an award created to honor dynamic-growth mid-size ($500 million to $1 billion), Midwest companies that have translated breakthrough strategy into superior results.

The award was presented recently by the global strategy consulting firm, Bain & Company, after more than 500 companies were evaluated by a panel of Chicago-area business leaders.

"We are very pleased to be honored as a finalist for this prestigious award," said Charles G. Kim, executive vice president of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. "We are committed to implementing long-term strategies that will benefit our customers, shareholders and employees. To be honored in this way speaks well of our entire team and their ability to implement the ideas that have grown this company."

Finalists were chosen to represent six categories: retail, industrial products and services, technology and information, consumer products, financial services and transportation. St. Louis-based Commerce Bancshares, Inc., was a finalist in the financial services category.

"The management teams from the firms honored with this award have led their companies to superior market position with their visionary ability to create and implement strategies that will generate sustainable results," said Mark Horwitch, vice president of Bain & Company, Chicago, and a member of this year's judging panel. "Being selected from such a large candidate pool by a judging panel of this caliber is a credit to Commerce Bancshares, Inc."

In recent years Commerce Bancshares, Inc., has maintained consistent growth and performance marked by its stock out-performing the S&P 500 over a four-year period. The Company was recognized as a Bain Award finalist by developing a breakthrough strategic vision centered on fostering loyalty through strong personal relationships with customers and creating products and services to meet the needs of specific customer groups.

Finalists emerged from a pool of more than 500 high-growth companies after being scrutinized to determine excellence in the areas of strategic vision, financial value created, marketplace endorsement, customer and employee loyalty and investment in strategic planning and innovation.

The nine-member judging panel was made up of Chicago-area business leaders and academia. The judging panel included: William Farley, Chairman and CEO of Fruit of the Loom; Ed Noha, Chairman of CNA Financial; Philip Rooney, Vice Chairman of ServiceMaster; W. James Farrell, Chairman, President and CEO of Illinois Tool Works; John F. Sandner, Special Policy Advisor of Chicago Mercantile Exchange; Robert S. Hamada, Dean of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business; Donald Jacobs, Dean of Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management; Charles Falk, Dean of Northeastern Illinois University College of Business and Management; and Mark Horwitch, Vice President of Bain & Company, Chicago.

About Commerce Bancshares, Inc.

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. is a registered bank holding company offering a full line of financial services, including retail and commercial banking, investment management and securities brokerage. The Company currently operates in approximately 290 locations in Missouri, Illinois, and Kansas. The Company also has operating subsidiaries involved in mortgage banking, credit-related insurance, venture capital, and real estate activities.

About Bain & Company

Bain & Company is one of the world's leading strategy consulting firms, serving clients across six continents. In addition to working with over 1,500 major national and multinational corporations, Bain has worked extensively with high-growth, mid-sized companies through its business strategy and private equity practices. Founded in 1973, Bain has over 2,000 professionals in 25 offices worldwide. Sponsored by Bain & Company's Chicago office, The Bain Award for Strategy Excellence was established to celebrate the firm's 25th anniversary.