PRIVATE EQUITY OWNED
Cirque du Soleil
Includes Cirque
live performance · Montreal, QC
- PE Firm
- Catalyst Capital Group
- Year Acquired
- 2020
PE demanded aggressive growth. Cirque lost $120 million on failed shows, then COVID snapped the trapeze.
What They Did
- TPG Capital bought Cirque for $1.5 billion in 2015, loading it with $900 million in debt and ordering breakneck expansion
- Lost about $20 million on the failed Las Vegas show R.U.N., which closed after just five months
- Laid off 4,679 employees (95% of workforce) in March 2020 when revenue went from $1 billion/year to zero in one week
- Filed for bankruptcy in June 2020; financial analysts had already warned that the 'debt-funded expansion strategy could be unsustainable'
- Catalyst Capital spent March and April 2020 quietly buying up Cirque's first-lien debt at roughly 50 cents on the dollar, then led the creditor group that bought the company outright in November 2020 — $1.2 billion, $375 million of it new money. TPG's equity was wiped out to zero.
Since the Acquisition
- Show quality became inconsistent as the company spread its creative talent across 33 simultaneous productions — veteran performers said the culture shifted from artistry to assembly line
- R.U.N. cost Cirque about $20 million and lasted only five months — the shortest run of any show in the company's history
- Company insiders said the culture shifted 'from close cooperation to let's build it quickly, let's prime the pump'
- Ticket holders for dozens of shows worldwide were left in limbo when every production went dark in March 2020 and the company filed for bankruptcy that June