Lazards' in swoop for Panmure

LAZARDS, the blue-blooded investment bank run by veteran dealmaker Bruce Wasserstein, is expected to emerge as the preferred bidder for 127-year-old City stockbroker Panmure.

The bank is understood to have offered more than £50m for the business, beating off bids from corporate financiers Bridgewell, private client business Teather & Greenwood and a management team led by Panmure's chief executive Tim Linacre.

Panmure UK, whose clients include supermarkets chain Safeway, advertising group WPP and InterContinental Hotels, was put up for sale by German owner WestLB last month after an internal review decided that it was no longer a core business.

The sale, handled by WestLB's Nick Wells and board director Manfred Puffer, would mark the first major acquisition by Wasserstein since he joined Lazards as chief executive and major shareholder in January 2002.

Wasserstein, 55, was one of the best-known dealmakers in the Nineties. He sold his corporate finance firm Wasserstein Perella to Germany's Dresdner Bank for more than £800m just 14 months before quitting to join Lazards. But he left his name as a lasting legacy - his former employer is now called Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.

A Lazards' coup would upset stockbroker Cazenove, which counts the Queen among its clients. The two institutions are believed to have an informal agreement that Cazenove acts as broker to Lazards' clients and there has been speculation that they might merge at some stage.

The news comes at a difficult time for Cazenove. It has aborted plans for a flotation and its recent quarterly profit share to staff was the worst payout since 1987.

In March, WestLB split Panmure into two - Panmure UK and West LB Equities, based in Dusseldorf.

The decision to sell Panmure UK is unrelated to WestLB's problems in its private equity division. The bank has been forced to write off £450m of former star banker Robin Saunders' investment in TV rental company Box Clever.

Lazards and WestLB declined to comment.