For immediate release
Media Contacts:
Lazard Identia PR for MBA
Judi Mackey/Richard Creswell Dominique Biquard de Parenti/Darío Minore
+1 212 632 1428/+ 44 207 187 2305 +5411 5032 6300/+54911 5927 2977
judi.mackey@lazard.com dbiquard@identiapr.com
richard.creswell@lazard.com dminore@identiapr.com
NEW YORK & BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, May 23, 2007 (Business Wire) -- Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ) announced today that it plans to acquire 50 percent of The MBA Group (parent company of MBA Banco de Inversiones), with offices across Central and South America. The entity, to be branded MBA Lazard, will offer financial advisory services in the Latin American region. With its existing Brazilian joint venture, Signatura Lazard, and its investment in MBA, Lazard will now have coverage in all major financial markets in Central and South America. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval by the Central Bank of Argentina.
"Today's agreement reinforces Lazard's strategy to expand our financial advisory business, and our commitment to provide premium service to clients across geographies and industries," said Charles G. Ward III, President of Lazard. "Over the past 25 years, MBA has built a strong network of financial advisory teams in the Latin American region, particularly in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Panama. MBA brings us a strong and dynamic presence in Latin America."
"Our joining together creates a powerful combination of two successful, international financial institutions," said Alejandro Reynal, Chairman and CEO of MBA. "Lazard has a nearly 160-year history of providing advice on complex, financial transactions that transcend cultures, industries and geographies. MBA considers Lazard to be the best partner in our quest to expand our reach beyond borders and strengthens our commitment to expand our business in Latin America."
Lazard is currently advising on a number of precedent-setting transactions around the world, including Barclays' $91.3 billion merger with ABN Amro, the largest bank merger in history; Acciona in its agreement with Enel concerning their EUR 43.7 billion transaction with respect to Endesa; TXU's $45 billion sale to a private equity group, the largest-ever LBO; and Microsoft's $6 billion acquisition of aQuantive. MBA, which has had a strategic relationship with Lazard since 2004, has recently performed a series of landmark transactions including the sale of Bank of Boston Argentina on behalf of Bank of America to Standard Bank of South Africa; the sale of the Pilaga ranching operation on behalf of its Belgian shareholders to ADECOAgro; and the placement of a block of Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales (YPF) shares for company employees.
Established in 1981, MBA is a leading investment banking and asset management firm in Central and South America. It provides a wide range of services to a diversified client base that includes domestic and international corporations, financial institutions, family-owned enterprises and governments. MBA has advised national, regional and international clients in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Venezuela, Paraguay, Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica. In addition to its new office in Panama, which opened in January 2007, MBA has had an office in Uruguay since 1987 and a joint venture in Chile called Altis-MBA since 2006. For more information on MBA, please visit www.mba.com.ar.
Lazard, one of the world's preeminent financial advisory and asset management firms, operates from 29 cities across 16 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. With origins dating back to 1848, the firm provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and capital raising, as well as asset management services to corporations, partnerships, institutions, governments, and individuals. For more information on Lazard, please visit www.lazard.com.
LAZ-G
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements." In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue", and the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts but instead represent only our belief regarding future results, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of our control. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
These factors include, but are not limited to, those discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K under Item 1A "Risk Factors," and also disclosed from time to time in reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K including the following:
-- A decline in general economic conditions or the global financial markets;
-- Losses caused by financial or other problems experienced by third parties;
-- Losses due to unidentified or unanticipated risks;
-- A lack of liquidity, i.e., ready access to funds, for use in our businesses; and
-- Competitive pressure.
Newstex ID: BW-0001-16939602 Lazard
Judi Mackey, +1 212 632 1428
judi.mackey@lazard.com
Richard Creswell, + 44 207 187 2305
richard.creswell@lazard.com
or
Identia PR for MBA
Dominique Biquard de Parenti, +5411 5032 6300
dbiquard@identiapr.com
Dario Minore, +54911 5927 2977
dminore@identiapr.com
Media Contacts:
Lazard Identia PR for MBA
Judi Mackey/Richard Creswell Dominique Biquard de Parenti/Darío Minore
+1 212 632 1428/+ 44 207 187 2305 +5411 5032 6300/+54911 5927 2977
judi.mackey@lazard.com dbiquard@identiapr.com
richard.creswell@lazard.com dminore@identiapr.com
LAZARD TO ACQUIRE 50% INTEREST IN MBA BANCO DE INVERSIONES
– Extends Lazard’s Reach Across Latin America; Brings Global Access to MBA –NEW YORK & BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, May 23, 2007 (Business Wire) -- Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ) announced today that it plans to acquire 50 percent of The MBA Group (parent company of MBA Banco de Inversiones), with offices across Central and South America. The entity, to be branded MBA Lazard, will offer financial advisory services in the Latin American region. With its existing Brazilian joint venture, Signatura Lazard, and its investment in MBA, Lazard will now have coverage in all major financial markets in Central and South America. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval by the Central Bank of Argentina.
"Today's agreement reinforces Lazard's strategy to expand our financial advisory business, and our commitment to provide premium service to clients across geographies and industries," said Charles G. Ward III, President of Lazard. "Over the past 25 years, MBA has built a strong network of financial advisory teams in the Latin American region, particularly in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Panama. MBA brings us a strong and dynamic presence in Latin America."
"Our joining together creates a powerful combination of two successful, international financial institutions," said Alejandro Reynal, Chairman and CEO of MBA. "Lazard has a nearly 160-year history of providing advice on complex, financial transactions that transcend cultures, industries and geographies. MBA considers Lazard to be the best partner in our quest to expand our reach beyond borders and strengthens our commitment to expand our business in Latin America."
Lazard is currently advising on a number of precedent-setting transactions around the world, including Barclays' $91.3 billion merger with ABN Amro, the largest bank merger in history; Acciona in its agreement with Enel concerning their EUR 43.7 billion transaction with respect to Endesa; TXU's $45 billion sale to a private equity group, the largest-ever LBO; and Microsoft's $6 billion acquisition of aQuantive. MBA, which has had a strategic relationship with Lazard since 2004, has recently performed a series of landmark transactions including the sale of Bank of Boston Argentina on behalf of Bank of America to Standard Bank of South Africa; the sale of the Pilaga ranching operation on behalf of its Belgian shareholders to ADECOAgro; and the placement of a block of Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales (YPF) shares for company employees.
Established in 1981, MBA is a leading investment banking and asset management firm in Central and South America. It provides a wide range of services to a diversified client base that includes domestic and international corporations, financial institutions, family-owned enterprises and governments. MBA has advised national, regional and international clients in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Venezuela, Paraguay, Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica. In addition to its new office in Panama, which opened in January 2007, MBA has had an office in Uruguay since 1987 and a joint venture in Chile called Altis-MBA since 2006. For more information on MBA, please visit www.mba.com.ar.
Lazard, one of the world's preeminent financial advisory and asset management firms, operates from 29 cities across 16 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. With origins dating back to 1848, the firm provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and capital raising, as well as asset management services to corporations, partnerships, institutions, governments, and individuals. For more information on Lazard, please visit www.lazard.com.
LAZ-G
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements." In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue", and the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts but instead represent only our belief regarding future results, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of our control. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
These factors include, but are not limited to, those discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K under Item 1A "Risk Factors," and also disclosed from time to time in reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K including the following:
-- A decline in general economic conditions or the global financial markets;
-- Losses caused by financial or other problems experienced by third parties;
-- Losses due to unidentified or unanticipated risks;
-- A lack of liquidity, i.e., ready access to funds, for use in our businesses; and
-- Competitive pressure.
Newstex ID: BW-0001-16939602 Lazard
Judi Mackey, +1 212 632 1428
judi.mackey@lazard.com
Richard Creswell, + 44 207 187 2305
richard.creswell@lazard.com
or
Identia PR for MBA
Dominique Biquard de Parenti, +5411 5032 6300
dbiquard@identiapr.com
Dario Minore, +54911 5927 2977
dminore@identiapr.com