Lazard was the number one adviser to companies restructuring their debt in the first half, according to new figures, rewarding the bank's efforts to significantly bolster its debt advisory team over the past 18 months.

Lazard worked on 32 deals that completed in the first half globally with a combined value of $76.2bn (€60.1bn), according to Thomson Reuters. This put it ahead of Houlihan Lokey, which worked on 30 deals worth $54.3bn, and Rothschild, which worked on 23 deals worth $40.1bn.