Lazard Capital, the closely held brokerage controlled by current and former Lazard employees, said it’s still exploring options such as a sale and has no plans to close.
“It’s business as usual, serving clients,” Scott Sunshine, a spokesman for the New York-based broker-dealer, said in a phone interview. “There is no deal announcement imminent, and there are no plans to shut the firm down.”
Fox Business Network’s Charles Gasparino tweeted on Thursday saying the firm’s executives are looking for jobs as “speculation swirls” that the company is close to reaching a takeover deal or may shut down.
Lazard Capital, spun out amid Lazard Ltd.’s 2005 initial public offering, said in May it was weighing options including selling itself or seeking a partner to increase the value of the business.
The firm’s activities include research, sales and trading, and the underwriting of equity, fixed income and convertible securities. The company began the year with about 200 employees, Bloomberg reported in March.