Guy Laliberté, the fire-spitting accordion player, is nearing a deal to sell most of his stake in the Canadian company to a private-equity consortium led by TPG. According to people familiar with this matter, the sale would put the value of this property at $1.5 billion. Group, a Chinese conglomerate, and TPG Capital Inc. an American private equity firm. The Caisse de dépôt et de placement, Quebec’s pension fund manager, is interested in a 10-percent stake in the company. The deal will be closed within a few days, and the Cirque’s international head office, Le Studio, will remain in Montreal.
Investors and companies around the world are trying to capitalize on the growing leisure spending by the middle class in China. For example, the Walt Disney Company is already building a theme park resort in Shanghai at a cost of $5.5 billion.
Cirque du Soleil had become a bit outmoded and flabby. But a group of investors is betting that China may be an answer to its midlife languor because this purchase will pave the way for the company to expand into China. Fosun of China, one of the buyers, is heavily invested in travel and entertainment businesses, including the Club Med that they recently purchased. The main plan here is to open a Cirque office in China.
In the deal, Guy Laliberté is expected to keep 10 per cent of his shares and sell 80 percent of his stock to the consortium comprising Fosun Capital.
