Lazard says financial restructuring now a global phenomenon

By Jennifer Lanning Drey

Portland, Ore., Jan. 30 - Lazard Ltd.'s chief executive officer Bruce Wasserstein told investors and analysts on Wednesday that the firm believes financial restructuring has shifted from once being a U.S. phenomenon to now being a global phenomenon.

The New York-based financial advisory and asset management firm has recently played a prominent role in advising international investors including sovereign wealth funds that are helping to refinance global financial institutions, and the firm's level of advice to sovereign wealth funds is seeing heightened activity, Wasserstein said Wednesday during Lazard's fourth-quarter earnings conference call.

The firm also said market pressures are creating asset sale velocity and strategic buyers now have greater opportunities as a result of the new environment, although short-term timing will be erratic and valuations will be recalibrated.

The firm is seeing a return to more conservative financing metrics, an increase in asset sale activity by companies in financial difficulty and more innovative approaches to capital raising, Wasserstein said.

M&A landscape strong

During the call, Wasserstein also said that although the cycle for mergers and acquisitions has softened, the firm expects strategic transactions to be strong within the new M&A landscape offering a number of opportunities for strategic buyers.

"The volatility has been such that pricing, outlook, assumptions have all varied but what we do know is that the strategics are very active in looking through and seeing where their competitive opportunities are," Wasserstein said.

The M&A landscape is also becoming increasingly global, vice chairman Steven J. Golub said during the call.

"Geographically, we see the emergence of global investors such as from China, Singapore, India, Brazil, the Middle East and Russia. There is a consolidation across Europe and global cross-border activity is accelerating," he said.

Within industry cycles, the firm believes the financial services sector is at the early stages of a cycle.

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