Lazard, the merchant bank, has pulled off a coup by winning the mandate to advise majority state-owned France Télécom on ways to restructure the French firm's vast debts.

According to a report in Les Echos, Lazard was hired by the French finance ministry following an invitation earlier this month to several banks to propose ways to tackle France Télécom's debts, which are expected to be in the region of €70bn ($69.2bn) by year-end.