Gerardo Braggiotti, one of Italy’s top investment bankers who left Lazard in July, is seeking to buy the Milan-based private bank, Banca Leo...

Gerardo Braggiotti, one of Italy’s top investment bankers who left Lazard in July, is seeking to buy the Milan-based private bank, Banca Leonardo, with the Agnelli family and French investment company Eurazeo, according to reports in the Italian press. Mr Braggiotti, a former deputy chairman of Lazard who helped run the company's Italian business, wants to buy Banca Leonardo and turn it into a firm advising on mergers in Italy, France and Germany and investing in companies across Europe, according to a report in La Stampa. Eurazeo is chaired by Mr Braggiotti’s former boss at Lazard’s Michel David-Weill. Banca Leonardo is currently a bank and asset manager for wealthy Italians. It has operated since 1999 and was formerly known as AFV-Milla & Co. The bank's chairman, Piero Barucci, is a former Italian treasury minister and ex-chairman of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.