Eurazeo, one of the companies in the complex web of holdings which controls Lazard, has stepped up its restructuring with the appointment of Patrick Sayer, a managing director at Lazard, as chief executive.

The appointment of Sayer, a partner at Lazard since 1995, comes as Bruno Roger, president of Lazard in Paris and the current chief executive and chairman of Eurazeo, has split his role into two. The board of Eurazeo has agreed to divide the management of Eurazeo into a two-tier structure with a supervisory board and executive board, with Roger moving upstairs to become chairman of the surpervisory board.