Capital Markets Advisory

The Capital Markets Advisory group is our global hub of expertise on public and private capital markets, capital structure, topics related to public shareholders, ESG, and activism defense.

Our professionals work closely with bankers across the firm as a source of intelligence and advice on corporate finance, capital raising and the strategic issues relevant to public company shareholders.

We help tailor financing strategies to clients’ unique situations, and we have a track record of developing innovative solutions for challenging market conditions.

Shareholder Advisory serves corporate leaders and board directors with relevant, timely insights on shareholders and investor dynamics. We work closely with Lazard’s industry groups and practice specialists to increase our client’s preparedness for activist investors or unsolicited takeover attempts, and to build shareholder support for strategic transactions.

We conduct strategic assessments of each client’s shareholder base, leveraging our proprietary databases, sophisticated data analytics, and the combined expertise of our team. Our thoughtful and tailored shareholder analysis also helps to inform key strategic events under evaluation, including M&A or a change in capital allocation priorities. Our key capabilities include:

Activist Engagement and Unsolicited Defense
We help our clients respond to activist shareholders or hostile approaches through a bespoke process of evaluating the company’s potential vulnerabilities, analysis of shareholders’ positioning and perspectives, and assessment of alternatives available to the company.

Corporate Preparedness (including Defense)
Our team applies decades of experience and lessons learned from hundreds of campaigns to help clients assess potential areas of vulnerability and develop response actions.

Strategic Investor Relations Advisory
We work with companies to augment IR programs and intensify shareholder base support, applying data-centric investor intelligence tools to help companies have more effective shareholder engagement.

Share Register Analysis
Our in-depth analysis of share ownership provides shareholder register analysis, daily tracking of trading dynamics at critical times, and AGM voting intelligence.

Investor Study (Makinson Cowell)
Our proprietary Investor Study provides a comprehensive and impartial assessment of a company, with a view of how investors perceive its business, competitive positions, finances, leadership and Board, communications and the valuation of its shares.

ESG Advisory
We assess our client’s ESG strategy and advise on optimal messaging to public shareholders, tailoring the communications strategy to incorporate a range of investor approaches to responsible investing and views on corporate governance.

Trading Analytics
We conduct strategic assessments and monitoring of each client’s shareholder base, leveraging our proprietary databases, sophisticated data analytics, and the combined expertise of our team.

We provide conflict-free, strategic and tactical advice on equity-focused issues, equity capital-raising alternatives, and on all aspects of deal execution. Our team has expertise built on decades of experience advising on topics including traditional IPOs, direct listings, follow-ons, PIPEs, equity-linked convertible bonds, block trades and at-the-market (ATM) offerings. Our services include:

Initial Public Offering Advisory
We provide IPO advice to private companies, founders and financial sponsors on topics including monetization alternatives, execution strategies, listing locations, valuation analysis, underwriter selection process, execution risk assessment, marketing strategies and shareholder targeting.

Capital Raising
We advise public companies, founders and financial sponsors on raising different forms of equity capital, including secondary stake sales, follow-ons, rights offerings and equity-linked issuance in marketed or bought deal executions.

Derivatives Expertise
We advise clients on structuring and use of equity derivatives, options trading activity, valuation of warrants, call spreads and other esoteric or bespoke structures.

Corporate Separations
We provide equity market perspectives and advice on corporate separation transactions including spin-offs, carve-out IPOs, split-offs and tracking stocks, incorporating our expertise on a broad range of structuring, valuation, capital structure, execution and investor marketing topics.

Our Debt Capital Markets and Private Placement team provides comprehensive, independent financing solutions to our clients. The team has decades of experience structuring and executing public and private market transactions.

We are independent, objective advisors with world-class in-house distribution capabilities. As such, we approach each situation agnostic toward the solution, with the skillset to execute in any market.

The team advises clients on all aspects of public and private debt and structured equity transactions with broad applications: refinancing, acquisition financing, capital structure optimization, covenant relief and liability management, dividend recapitalization, rescue financings, liquidity enhancement, growth capital, infrastructure financing, project financing and debtor-in-possession financings.

Our longstanding direct relationships with public and private market investors generate real-time market insights, shape our market views and strengthen the quality of our execution.

Lazard is a global leader in providing innovative capital solutions for clients, advising them on secondary transactions and primary capital raising through a globally integrated platform.

With over 80 professionals across the United States, Europe and Asia, the Private Capital Advisory team has deep relationships with over 1,500 institutional investors and has engaged in over 500 assignments since 2003, raising hundreds of billions of dollars of capital with our clients.

Our services include: Fund raising and secondary advisory services for private equity, private credit, real estate and real assets-focused investment firms.

Venture & Growth Banking is a global team with a presence in North America and Europe focused on advising the world’s leading fast-growth, private companies on venture capital and growth equity capital raising.

As companies choose to stay private for longer and raise more equity in the private markets, our team helps firms bridge the scale-up funding gap and supports their evolution within the venture and growth ecosystem.

The team is staffed by experienced venture brokers and investment bankers with research, engineering and entrepreneurial backgrounds, with support from the global Lazard network of industry, sector and geographic specialists. We bring growth companies and investors together through personal introductions, information resources and events.