Investment Banking: Lazard's Competitive Strategies
Code : COM0080
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Region : Europe
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Lazard - A Tradition In Investment Advisory Services In the 1840s, brothers Alexander, Elie and Simon Lazard migrated from Alsace-Lorraine, France, to New Orleans, US. They started a dry-goods company, Lazard Frères & Co. In 1849, the brothers moved to San Francisco to set up a gold-export firm and brought in their cousin, Alexander Weill as their book keeper. Lazard Frères then expanded its operations to banking and foreign exchange services... Competitive Strategies Internal differences apart, by the early 1990s, Lazard emerged as a global force in M&A advisory business. In Europe the Lazard partners were pioneers in that business, as Forbes observed, "Lazard partners have practically invented the game as it is played today in Europe. And they play right up the limit of the rules." In the US, Felix Rohatyn, with the help of an army of dealmakers, continued to build Lazard's reputation as a premier firm in M&A advisory... Investing In Future Wasserstein wanted to raise capital, to compete with the giant investment banks, through a public offer. However, the decision to list the firm was objected by Michel to protect his own interests. The disagreement came to public notice when the two sent contradictory letters to partners in May 2004. Michel's letter contained that in 2003 the firm lost $150 million, while Wasserstein reported that the firmmade a profit of $250 million by presumably excluding bonuses and other compensation to partners... |
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