Lazard announced that Wouter Gabriels is joining the firm as a managing director in investment banking in Europe, effective September 1, 2008. Mr. Gabriels was until recently the president of the Chancery and chief of staff of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt’s office in Belgium. He will work primarily out of France and Belgium, and will focus on European and cross-border mergers and acquisitions.
The addition of Mr. Gabriels follows a number of recent strategic developments made in Lazard’s European investment banking business, including the hiring of former IMF head and Spanish Finance Minister Rodrigo de Rato as Senior Managing Director; Ken Costa, chairman of Lazard International and co-head of UK investment banking; and the hiring of managing directors in debt advisory, transport and logistics, among others.-Business Wire
