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Cirque du Soleil founder and former CEO Guy Laliberté wants to get back into the circus biz.
On Sunday on the popular Radio-Canada talk show Tout le monde en parle, Laliberté announced he is going to launch a bid to try to buy back the Cirque du Soleil. In an opinion piece in the Gazette earlier this month, Laliberté wrote: “A few days before the registration deadline for the battle royal, I am deciding whether or not I’m going to jump into that wrestling ring. …”
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Founder Guy Laliberté will bid to buy back Cirque du Soleil Back to video
On Sunday he jumped into the ring.
In 2015, Laliberté sold the Cirque du Soleil to American private equity investment firm TPG Capital, Chinese investment company Fosun and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec for a reported US$1.5 billion. In late March, the Montreal-based circus laid off 95 per cent of its staff, close to 4,700 employees, after all of its shows around the world were shuttered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senior management then said they were evaluating all options, including seeking bankruptcy protection. Three weeks ago, TPG, Fosun and the Caisse injected an additional US$50 million to try to keep the company alive.
