I read the following small article in the (London, UK) Sunday Times Business pages, 14 Nov 2010 (p2 of the paper..e-version is behind a paywall I think)
'Cirque du Soleil, the live entertainment group, is plotting an ambitious expansion that could include establishing a permanent venue in London and finding new investors.
The acrobatic dance and performance show has appointed Allen and Co, a specialist media and entertainment adviser, to identify potential London sites. It will also look for fresh backers that can help fund new productions in New York and Los Angeles'.
Also, here is an article from a Sky News blog:
http://blogs.news.sky.com/kleinman/Post:2c540810-b0e2-4a52-85b3-f96f2aa3e0e2
Cirque du Soleil, the internationally-renowned touring circus, is hunting a permanent home in London as part of an expansion plan which could also see it recruit a new cash-rich investor.
I have learned that the company’s founder and majority shareholder, Guy Laliberte, has appointed Allen & Co, the specialist media and entertainment advisory firm, to identify prospective partners who could help establish a permanent residence for the acrobatic dance troupe-cum-circus in London.
Cirque du Soleil’s shows at the Royal Albert Hall have become a highlight in the capital’s entertainment calendar. The news that it has begun a search for a dedicated new home in the city underlines its long-term commercial ambitions.
I am also told that Allen & Co may have been given a broader mandate to identify potential new investors in the business, which I understand is keen to expand more aggressively into Asia.
There may be a willing seller of part of the company. Istithmar World, part of the Dubai World conglomerate that has been caught up in the Emirate’s financial woes, holds a 20 per cent stake in Cirque du Soleil alongside Nakheel, a Dubai property investor.
It’s understood that the Dubai shareholders cannot sell without Laliberte’s approval.
As part of the company’s expansion, Allen & Co has also been asked to find investors for a production fund to produce two new shows (Zarkana in New York and Iris in Los Angeles).
Cirque du Soleil has not only become a cultural success story, but a commercial one, too. It boasts annual revenue of well in excess of £350m and is valued by bankers at more than £1bn.
That’s a good thing when you consider that Laliberte has expensive hobbies (as well as being a generous donor to charitable causes): last year he paid £22m to travel into space on a Russian spacecraft. He founded Cirque du Soleil in 1984, when he was a stilt-walker on the streets of Montreal before busking in Hyde Park to make a living when he moved to London.
The company is now run day-to-day by Daniel Lamarre, a former television executive.
A Cirque du Soleil spokeswoman confirmed that Allen & Co’s was helping to identify a partner for a new London home but said she was not aware of any prospective ownership changes.
I realise that Cirque have several different shows running at once, but it would be nice to think that the 'Immortal' show might find a 'permanent' home in London, rather than just being a touring version.
I guess they will be planning long term. I wonder if any of the smaller ex-London Olympic venues might be suitable...just my thought.
