Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Guy Laliberte swings deal with TPG, sells interest in Cirque for $1.5 billion

Cirque du Soleil

Ryan Remiorz / The Canadian Press / AP

Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte speaks at a news conference Monday, April 20, 2015, in Montreal. Cirque du Soleil has signed a deal to sell a majority stake in the famed circus group to U.S. private equity firm TPG for a reported $1.5 billion.

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Cirque du Soleil's 'One Night for One Drop' blue carpet Friday, March 20, 2015, at 1 OAK in the Mirage. Launch slideshow »

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Guy Laliberte, the famed founder of Cirque du Soleil, has sold controlling interest in the company, and the new majority ownership company is familiar around the world and certainly Las Vegas.

Reported for weeks and finalized today is the sale of the majority control of Cirque to the behemoth private investment firm TPG Capital, which also holds a major stake in Caesars Entertainment and (along with investment firm Leonard Green and Partners) is majority owner of the Palms. Though no terms have been formally announced, the purchase is reported by multiple media outlets to be about $1.5 billion.

Also investing in Cirque are Fosun, a top private investment group out of China, which has signed on as a minority equity partner, along with the Caisse of Quebec. The new chairman of Cirque is Mitch Garber of Montreal, long affiliated with TPG and a member of the new investment group.

Laliberte’s financial hold on the company, which was previously 90 percent, is now 10 percent. He will continue to contribute ideas and concepts in a consultant-fashioned role. According to Forbes magazine, the value of the sale pushes Laliberte’s net worth to $1.9 billion.

A news release announcing the agreement said that TPG is being brought in “to fuel growth and take Cirque’s iconic blue-and-yellow big top to exciting new markets.”

Cirque has blossomed as the predominant entertainment production company in Las Vegas, presenting eight shows on the Strip, all of them (apart from “Mystere” at Treasure Island), in partnership with MGM Resorts.

Cirque officials have repeatedly said that MGM Resorts is the company’s most important creative partner, even as it attempts to expand with additional touring and residency shows (including one in development in Dubai) and the opening of a new theatrical division in early 2014.

In a statement, Laliberte said, “After building the Cirque du Soleil brand, we have now found the right partners in TPG, Fosun and the Caisse to take Cirque du Soleil forward to the next stage in its evolution as a company founded on the conviction that the arts and business, together, can contribute to making a better world.”

He added that he was “thrilled” that the new investors are committed to Cirque’s French-Canadian heritage and artistic culture.

Said Garber: “Guy has built one of the most extraordinary companies in the world. I have worked with TPG for many years and know they are the perfect partners to take this business forward.”

Laliberte created the company in 1984 from his start as a street performer (specializing in playing the accordion, walking on stilts and breathing fire) and has been instrumental in the creation of every Cirque show since. His most recent public appearance in Las Vegas was at the March 20 “One Night For One Drop” charity production at Love Theater in the Mirage.

Cirque spokeswomen R.C. Menard said today “absolutely nothing will change” in Las Vegas under the new administration. Nonetheless, there are some hints that Cirque is drawing down the number of employees the company has had under contract on the Strip. Though not verified by company reps, there is word that “Love,” set for a relaunch on its 10th anniversary in June, is ending the contracts of as many as a dozen members of its production team.

At the top level, the more well known Cirque officials will remain in place under the new ownership lineup. Remaining as the company’s president and COO is Daniel Lamarre, who said on the night of “One Night For One Drop” that he hoped to stay with Cirque “for as long as the company will have me.”

He added, “I love Cirque, and I never want to leave. I have the greatest job in the world.”

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.

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