Eurazeo has appointed Goldman Sachs to advise it on its €2.3bn merger with Rue Impériale, overlooking Lazard, the bank in which it holds a 15.8% stake.

In June last year, Financial News disclosed that external shareholders of Lazard were set to square up to Bruce Wasserstein, chairman of Lazard, over the value of their stakes in the bank and who ultimately controls them, a dispute sparked by the threat that Wasserstein may pass on future dividend payments. Michel David-Weill, who is chairman of both Rue Impériale and Eurazeo, has clashed with Wasserstein about his policy of hiring bankers on guaranteed bonuses, which has reduced the return to external shareholders.