Lazard executives see US banking growth

By Joseph A. Giannone

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lazard Ltd. (LAZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), one of the oldest names in investment banking worldwide, still has a lot of room for growth for its U.S. mergers advisory business, senior executives for the firm told Reuters Wednesday.

Independent firms advising on mergers and acquisitions have been gaining a bigger share of the market in recent years. And while Lazard is far bigger than the typical "boutique," earning $150 million in the first nine months this year, it sees plenty of room for growth in market share and revenue.

"Unlike a lot of the other firms we compete against, we have the luxury of still having an enormous opportunity in the markets which are most familiar with us, particularly in the United States," Kenneth Jacobs, chief executive of Lazard North America, said at the Reuters Investment Banking Summit.

"In the U.S. marketplace, we're doing very well. The fact is, it's such a huge market that I think there continues to be enormous opportunity for us here," Jacobs said at the summit in Reuters New York offices.

In the first nine months this year, Lazard ranked eighth worldwide in advising on completed mergers and acquisitions, according to Thomson Financial, up from tenth in the same period last year. In the United States, it fell to ninth from seventh place.

Jacobs and Vice Chairman Gary Parr, a veteran dealmaker focused on financial services companies, told Reuters it will do more M&A business in part by hiring more bankers, though it will temper its expansion plans for now.

"We will continue to add talent, though in a bull market that is something we're very disciplined about," Jacobs said. By contrast, good bankers are easier to add in down markets.

"We did extremely well in the downturn, 2002 through 2004. We made tremendous headway," Jacobs said. "I think, hopefully, that will happen again."  Continued...