This paper is concerned with the reduction of a unitary matrix U to CMV-like
shape. A Lanczos--type algorithm is presented which carries out the reduction
by computing the block tridiagonal form of the Hermitian part of U, i.e., of
the matrix U+U^H. By elaborating on the Lanczos approach we also propose an
alternative algorithm using elementary matrices which is numerically stable. If
U is rank--structured then the same property holds for its Hermitian part and,
therefore, the block tridiagonalization process can be performed using the
rank--structured matrix technology with reduced complexity. Our interest in the
CMV-like reduction is motivated by the unitary and almost unitary eigenvalue
problem. In this respect, finally, we discuss the application of the CMV-like
reduction for the design of fast companion eigensolvers based on the customary
QR iteration
