Morgan Stanley and Lazard have reportedly been hired by Abertis, the Spanish infrastructure company, and Veolia, the French water and energy group, to prepare a share swap or buyout of Vinci, the troubled French construction group.

The banks, along with law firm Cleary Gottlieb, are said to be studying a joint takeover approach for Vinci, according to French newspaper Le Figaro. Vinci has a stock exchange value of €17.3bn ($21.8bn).