Lazard

Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras will be heading to Paris on Tuesday on an official two-day visit to participate in an investment forum and attend an official dinner hosted by French senators in honor of the Greek delegation.

French company Lazard will be the new consultant of the Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA), replacing Rothschild, with the aim of bringing Greek bonds back to investment grade within the next couple of years.

This decision was reached on Wednesday by the government's Economic Policy Council on the recommendation of the PDMA and an opinion by the State Legal Council.

Greece's debt agency has proposed hiring US investment bank Lazard to advise the country on the management of its debt, a finance ministry official said on Wednesday.

Greece, which is emerging from a prolonged financial crisis, has the highest debt in the eurozone. [Reuters]

The offers of six companies for buying 58 percent of shares of state-owned telecommunications company Telekom Srbija have been opened at the government.

The offers are considered by the privatization consultant French company Lazard, and the government will decide on the best offer not only based on the price, but also the investment plan and social program.

Financial advisory firm Lazard told BIRN that it has not signed a strategic partnership deal with US investment fund Apollo Management, a potential buyer of Telekom Srbija, contrary to allegations in Serbian media.

"Lazard never formed a strategic partnership with Apollo," said Richard Creswell, Lazard senior vice-president at Lazard.

BELGRADE - Telekom Srbija has accepted the bid by the French consultancy company Lazard Freres SAS to provide management consulting services in the process of privatising the Serbian telecoms operator.

The adviser is expected to establish a proposed privatisation model over the next two months, Telekom Srbija said in a statement.

Lazard, one of capitalist Wall Street's leading financial advisory and asset management firms, is advising the radical leftist Greek government on the restructuring Greece's debt free of charge!

That, at least, is the statement by the Greek finance ministry, made yesterday.

In an interview to French magazine "Paris Match," Matthieu Pigasse, the head of investment bank Lazard in Paris, revealed that he has been in constant contact with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis ever since the bank was hired to advise the Greek government on its debt restructuring.

By Sophie Sassard

Soon after politicians from left-wing SYRIZA party won power in Greece they said they had hired Lazard to advise them on restructuring their debt.

It is a homecoming of sorts for the US investment bank. Lazard cemented its position as the eminence grise of debt negotiations when it secured the biggest restructuring deal in history for Athens in 2012.

The countdown for Eurobank’s share capital increase started on Friday with a board meeting that decided to call an extraordinary general meeting for next Saturday, April 12.

The main subject of the meeting will be the 3-billion-euro capital increase and its approval is a mere formality given that 95 percent of shares belong to the HFSF bank rescue fund.