www.cirquefascination.com: Cirque du Soleil (“Cirque”), the world’s leading producer of high-quality live artistic entertainment, today announced an agreement under which TPG, a global private investment firm, will acquire a majority stake in Cirque du Soleil to fuel growth and take Cirque’s iconic blue and yellow big top to exciting new markets.
4 comments:
Not knowing much about business and financial stakes, I find this article a little ominous for the future of Cirque du Soleil. Cirque has been operating on its own, for the most part, for a long time and now having a group of three huge companies seems a little strange while still promising to keep the artistic and directing teams the same. If everything is going to stay the same, why let them have stakes in the company? I understand that having big companies closer to the marketed audiences will help Cirque in term of outreach, but like the article says, Cirque hits 150 million spectators worldwide, so what is the purpose of expansion like that, especially if they aren’t changing the content or style of Cirque shows? The answer must be in the money, which wasn’t released in the official press release, so not even knowing what assets are going where doesn’t help me see much of a wild intention either. In the end, business is business, and if it helps Cirque, that’s alright with me.
I'm happy that Cirque is staying in Canada and growing their global market. It's really important for the company to continue to grow in terms of locations, and China seems like a fantastic place in terms of the opportunities available to Cirque and growing their influence there. Stationing more shows around the world seems like the best way for them to develop their capital and overall importance in the global market, simply because the way that their shows are structured being wordless and plotless that they are universally understood and should really be taking advantage of that. I feel as if this is a really good step for Cirque, however I am slightly concerned about TPG's choice to put their stake in the company, simply because they are recognized for being a company that invests in financially struggling companies. I can hope that Cirque isn't struggling financially, but this may be a bit of an alert that they are. However, I do have faith, especially considering all of the companies that TPG has turned around entirely.
Part of me is weary about this and how fast Cirque is growing. Obviously, I do not sit in the board meetings and know every goal of Cirque but as a consumer I definitely see something happening that I did not see a few years ago when I first became interested in Cirque. It’s interesting how they plan on spreading their market in China. I know that they have had shows in Asia including Zaia and Zed in addition to touring shows that stop there. I was talking to one of my friends about the expanding entertainment market there is in China but I don’t know how well it aligns with Cirque’s goals. What also makes me hesitant about this partnership is the involvement of other corporations event though Guy will still be involved I am not sure if the Cirque shows we see released in the next 10 years will be up to the standard quality of past Cirque shows.
All I can say about the acquisition of Cirque by other foreign companies (I say other because to Americans, Cirque is a foreign company, its Canadian) is that I hope it doe not loose it knack for creating new, creative and extravagant spectacle that so many people have come to know and love. Cirque is I think a really great example of how I think more artistic companies should be made up. I understand that not everyone can be on the same scale as cirque, but it would be awesome to see more companies trying to make interesting performance and art, and moving it to were people will want to see it. Instead of either the regional theater model or a mission driven not-for Profit Company. With the new foreign ownership of Cirque, I hope that more of their shows will make it around the world, and that they have a chance to really expand globally.
Post a Comment