From Forbes Magazine

As Investors Acquire Majority Stake In Cirque Du Soleil

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A majority interest in Cirque du Soleil, one of the largest live entertainment groups in the world, will be sold to private equity firm TPG Capital, according to a Tuesday press release. While the financial terms remain undisclosed, multiple reports price the deal at approximately $1.5 billion.

The sale won’t boost his total net worth but it will provide a big cash pile to Cirque founder Guy Laliberté, who has a 90% stake in the company he started in 1984. He is expected to maintain a minority stake once the deal closes in the third quarter of 2015. Taking into account the value of the sale, FORBES currently estimates his net worth at $1.9 billion.

In addition to TPG Capital’s stake, Chinese investment group Fosun and Canadian pension fund manager Caisse de dép?t et placement du Québec will acquire minority interests in the company. The terms of the deal will allow the company to keep its international headquarters in Montréal.

Known for its iconic blue and yellow Big Top tents, the Cirque began when a band of stilt walkers, street jugglers and sword swallowers came together as part of the Canadian government’s celebration of the 450th anniversary of the discovery of Canada. Laliberté, who started out walking on stilts and breathing fire as a street performer in Québec, founded Cirque du Soleil when he was awarded the $1 million contract to perform at the celebration.

Now the company’s 4,000 employees help put on intricate circus shows for some 15 million people per year — more than 150 million since the company was founded. A Las Vegas staple, its Mystère show at Treasure Island has been running since 1993.

In 2008 Laliberté stepped away from the Cirque to focus on his five children and his One Drop Foundation, which strives to ensure access to water worldwide. He sold 20% of the company to two Dubai firms (though he later increased his stake to 90%) and, in 2009, rode a Soyuz rocket to space while wearing a clown nose. Yet by the summer of 2012 he was back at the Cirque’s helm, tightening spending in an effort to increase the company’s margins after profits began falling in his absence.

“After 30 years 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,” Laliberté said in the press release. “Just as importantly, I am thrilled that the investors have demonstrated such a strong commitment to Cirque’s unique Québec cultural heritage and the creativity and imagination of our people.”