Italian authorities have put four people under investigation in a market-rigging and insider-trading probe concerning French dairy group Lactalis's bid for Parmalat SpA (PLT.MI), police sources said on Wednesday. Tax police also raided the Italian offices of banks, public relations firms and investment funds as part of the inquiry into Lactalis's stake-building in Parmalat, Italy's biggest listed food company, the sources said. The searches included the local offices of French banks Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA) and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA), U.S. investment bank Lazard (LAZ.N), Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) and public relations companies Brunswick and Image Building, the sources said. Lazard Italy Chairman Carlo Salvatori and Massimo Rossi, a former chief executive at Swedish Match SWAMA.ST who was picked by three foreign investment funds to be interim chief executive at Parmalat, are among the four, the sources said.
Lazard Limited (Lazard) is a financial advisory and asset management Company. Shares of LAZ fell by 1.18% or $-0.4699/share to $39.4601. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $25.70 and as high as $46.54. On average, 720531 shares of LAZ exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 183664.
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