NEW YORK, June 5 (Reuters) - Shareholders in merger adviser Lazard Ltd (LAZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) have agreed to sell 5.7 million shares in an underwritten public offering at a price of $26 per share, the company said in a regulatory filing on Friday.

Lazard Group, a subsidiary of Lazard Ltd, agreed to buy 1.7 million of the shares as part of its share buyback program. Goldman Sachs Group (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) underwrote the sale.

The shares were sold by a group of current and former company officers that did not include Bruce Wasserstein, Lazard's chairman and chief executive officer.

Lazard Ltd did not receive any of the proceeds of the sale. (Reporting by Steve Eder)