Investment bank Lazard is reportedly making a late move to push out Centerview Partners as Venezuela’s financial advisor, offering to handle one of the largest sovereign debt restructurings ever recorded — and at a significantly reduced cost, according to a Bloomberg News report published Sunday.
According to Bloomberg, Lazard has put forward a fee of $25 million, which is a small fraction of the $150 million or more that Centerview had been negotiating with the Venezuelan government as recently as last month. Bloomberg cited a letter sent Friday to interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez as the basis for the report.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the information. Lazard, Centerview, and Venezuela’s Ministry of Communication and Information had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
Venezuela announced in May that it had brought on U.S.-based financial services firm Centerview to help manage the restructuring of both its sovereign debt and the debt of state oil company PDVSA. That announcement gave a boost to bond prices at the time.
Bloomberg reported, citing a draft contract, that Centerview had discussed terms including a monthly retainer of $750,000 along with a success fee equal to 0.1% of the total debt restructured — a figure that would amount to somewhere between $150 million and $200 million.
However, Reuters had previously reported that concerns were raised among investors and government officials about the fairness and transparency of Centerview’s appointment, given that no formal competitive bidding process was held.
Venezuela ranks among the world’s largest cases of sovereign default, with approximately $60 billion in outstanding defaulted bonds between the government and PDVSA. Analysts believe total liabilities — including arbitration judgments and accumulated interest — could surpass $150 billion.
Whoever serves as Venezuela’s financial advisor will be responsible for shaping the country’s debt strategy and guiding negotiations with creditors. Venezuela first defaulted on its debt under former President Nicolas Maduro in 2017. The outcome of these negotiations will determine how much creditors are repaid and will play a major role in shaping Venezuela’s long-term financial stability.
