Bermuda has been picked to be the home for a new holding company for leading investment bank Lazard Group.

The news emerged as the bank announced a bid to go public after 156 years as one of the most closely-held private firms.

The company said it intended to list on the New York Stock Exchange next year in an initial public offering that could raise up to $850 million.

The development could end a high-profile feud between chairman Michel David-Weill ? a descendant of Lazard?s founders ? and Lazard head Bruce Wasserstein, who has made drastic changes at the firm since he took over in 2002.

Lazard, set up in 1848 in New Orleans and now with interests in 27 cities around the world, said on Friday in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it had incorporated Lazard Ltd. in Bermuda on October 25.

The intent for Lazard Ltd., according to the filing, is to be the holding company for its operations once it lists on the New York Stock Exchange, a move slated for some time next year.

The Bermuda company will not hold any material assets, the regulatory papers said.

The reasons for going public, a move that Mr. David-Weill previously opposed, was said to be part of a plan to buy out ?historical partners? (including David-Weill) for some $1.6 billion, as well as to pave the way to raise capital as needed to ?finance strategic acquisitions in the future?.

Bloomberg yesterday reported that the stand-off between Mr. David-Weill and Mr. Wasserstein was money-based, with dividends to members of the family being cut by the latter, in favour of greater reward for Lazard?s working partners.

The plan to go public also includes a restructuring that will spin off Lazard?s capital markets business into a new private company named LFCM Holdings.

That company is to be held by current and former managing directors. The decision to pick Bermuda for the incorporation of its holding company may be a real affirmation for the Island as a leading financial services jurisdiction, but it was not clear yesterday if Lazard would have any real physical presence here.

The incorporation was carried out by local firm Conyers Dill & Pearman but yesterday CD&P said it was acting on behalf of Lazard in regulatory matters and could not speak to what the company?s plans were on the Island. Lazard spokesman Rich Silverman declined to comment further when contacted by The Royal Gazette.

In the 240-page filing with the SEC, Lazard said the Bermuda Monetary Authority had classified Lazard Ltd. as a non-resident company, which restricts its ability to deal in foreign exchange, but it has applied for permission to issue and transfer common stock outside of the Island, under the Exchange Control Act 1972.

The filing said that Lazard had, in the last five years, advised on about 1,000 mergers and acquisitions, that have collectively been worth more than $1 trillion. Lazard?s IPO is being led by a group of banks, headed by Goldman Sachs and including JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch & Co., Lazard and Credit Suisse First Boston.