Bid 'em up big time

5 May 2005 By Rob Cox Follow @rob1cox

The investment bank sold $1.8bn of securities, ending 157 years of family control and putting the wily Wasserstein in control. Setting aside Lazard’s investment prospects which are shaky Wasserstein has proven why he is one of the world s greatest dealmakers.

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Lazard ended 157 years as a privatelyheld investment banking partnership with the successful sale of shares on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday.

Lazard, founded by the ancestors of Michel DavidWeill as a New Orleans dry goods shop in 1848, sold $1.8bn of new securities, which will be used to buy out the stakes held by DavidWeill and his allies in the company.

Lazard sold 34m shares of common stock for $25 each, at the bottom of the range expected in the IPO, raising $855m.

Lazard also sold $550m of bonds, some $100m less than originally expected, and $400 million of convertible securities.

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