Cirque du Soleil founder sells
MONTREAL — The force behind Cirque du Soleil’s nearly 31-year run as a worldrenowned Canadian success story is selling the famed circus even though his seven-yearold daughter has dreams of one day becoming a clown.
“I truly don’t believe in second-generation entrepreneurship,” Guy Laliberte told a news conference on Monday after announcing the sale to a U.S. private equity firm.
Laliberte, 55, has five children between the ages of seven and 18, but said that having them take over the Cirque was never really an option.
“From the outset, I didn’t want to put the pressure of running the circus on their shoulders.”
The creator of the Cirque, which wowed the world with breathtaking and cutting-edge shows, will maintain a 10 per cent stake in the Montreal-based company through his family trust and will also continue to provide strategic and creative input.
Equity firm TPG is acquiring a 60 per cent stake for an undisclosed price. Chinese investment firm Fosun will have a 20 per cent stake and Quebec pension fund manager the Caisse de depot another 10 per cent.
The transaction — which Laliberte said wasn’t a “fire sale” at a reported value of around $1.5 billion — will also see partner Dubai World sell its 10 per cent stake.
After building the Cirque into a major success story in the business and entertainment worlds, Laliberte said he wanted to pursue other undisclosed creative challenges. He added he’d gone through a long emotional process to prepare himself for the sale.
Laliberte dismissed any suggestions the Cirque is in financial difficulty, saying it is a profitable venture that sells 11 million tickets a year.
He said the sale — only approved early Friday morning — will be good for the Cirque as it aligns with partners that can nearly double its growth by piercing the complex Chinese market and expanding third-party licensing deals and digital media.
Although the new owners have made a commitment to Investment Canada to preserve the Cirque’s Montreal headquarters, there’s no written guarantee.
Laliberte rejected a recent newspaper cartoon that showed U.S. flags flying over the Cirque’s big top. He likened the Cirque to other respected Quebec-based companies like Alimentation Couche-Tard, Molson Coors, Bombardier and Garda that have large U.S. shareholders.