www.cirquefascination.com: Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté may be ready to sell control of his company as it reaches a crossroads in its 30-year history.
Laliberté mused publicly in December about selling a 20- to 30-per-cent stake in the Montreal-based entertainment giant. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, he said he was looking for a partner to help expand the business globally.
3 comments:
It'll be very interesting to see which way this goes. I can definitely understand the concern over Cirque leaving Quebec, simply because at heart it is a Quebec company, however the heart of their successful shows lies way outside Canada. It would definitely make sense for their headquarters to be moved to Las Vegas, considering thats where some of their top performing productions reside (O, KA, Mystere, etc.). Not to mention while Cirque constantly attempts to brand themselves as a company with strictly French Canadian roots, I feel like that isn't as essential to the management of their branding as they may think it is.
I'm mostly curious to know more about what this decision is being inspired by. Is it really just because they think they've reached peak and its time to sell the company before it gets too late? Is Guy getting worn out? I'm wondering if more of the specifics will come out if/when the company is actually sold.
I understand why the company is putting itself in a position to sell, and it will be interesting to see whether or not they do. Once a company has gotten this large and this well known it can be hard to keep it under one office or head in one zone. Cirque has become world renown and at this point has a permanent domain in Las Vegas and other large entertainment sites around the world. If the company doesn’t sell off as a whole, it would probably be a good idea to section in off and set up distinct offices in larger zones, or separate the traveling group entirely. Especially that it seems the company is starting to collapse from within. With 400+ layoff and accidents and shows that are canceled it seems that the heads not being in the actual country of performance there’s no way for them to know the wants and needs of their audiences. Cirque is now so large that division management would probably be the best option.
I’m unsure how I feel about Cirque being sold although I do understand why it is happening. My concern when successful companies change management is that they are often completely restructured within 1-5 years which destroys the company. With Cirque, the shows are so complex that everyone involved in the projects must know what is going on. If staff is changed out too quickly, the company could fall apart. What’s especially scary about that is the fact that Cirque does potentially fatal stunts so if for example an automation controller doesn’t quite know what they are doing, it could result in death. My biggest hope is that when management is changed, the new management will not start from scratch but rather build on the foundation that is set up. I hope that they improve safety, and reach new artistic levels and don’t focus on the pity politics that often come with management changes.
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