Lazard France Names Girodolle to Head Up New Leadership Team
Lazard France Said to Name Jean-Louis Girodolle as New CEO
(Bloomberg) -- Lazard named Jean-Louis Girodolle as chief executive officer of its operations in France as part of a management reshuffle triggered by last week’s shock departure of Matthieu Pigasse.
Girodolle, 51, will work closely with Charles-Henri Filippi and Francois Kayat, who were named co-chairs of investment banking in France, Lazard said in a statement Sunday. He’s been running the bank’s French division in recent months and told Les Echos he’ll be in charge of its global sovereign-advisory unit.
Girodolle, who was one of Pigasse’s deputies, and his new team will be tasked with keeping Lazard at the heart of M&A deals in France and overseas. Pigasse, a big name in Paris banking, is also known for his personal media investments, including stakes in French daily Le Monde and content producer Mediawan SA.
“With this new leadership team, led by Jean-Louis, we are in a strong position to continue serving our clients with the best advice,” Peter R. Orszag, CEO of Lazard Financial Advisory, said in the statement. “We are excited about the future of Lazard in France and across the world.”
In the same interview with Les Echos, Lazard Chairman and CEO Kenneth Jacobs expressed confidence in the French unit’s growth prospects, while Girodolle said Lazard France will retain its autonomy. Lazard opened its Paris office in 1854.
Girodolle is a former alumnus of France’s elite administrative school ENA and served as an adviser to then finance minister Laurent Fabius in the early 2000s, before becoming the deputy head of France’s state shareholding agency APE. He joined Lazard 16 years ago, along with Pigasse.
--With assistance from Geraldine Amiel.
To contact the reporter on this story: James Ludden in New York at jludden@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Matthew G. Miller at mmiller144@bloomberg.net, Tony Czuczka
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