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đź”´ PRIVATE EQUITY OWNED
Cirque du Soleil
live performance · Montreal, QC
PE Firm
TPG Capital
Year Acquired
2015
“PE demanded aggressive growth. Cirque lost $120 million on failed shows, then COVID snapped the trapeze.”
The PE Playbook
- •TPG Capital led a $1.5 billion LBO in 2015, loading Cirque with $900 million in debt and ordering breakneck expansion
- •Lost $30 million in China, $20 million on 'NFL Experience' in Times Square, and $70 million on Las Vegas show R.U.N.
- •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; Moody's had already warned the 'debt-funded expansion strategy could be unsustainable'
Since the Acquisition
- ▸Filed for bankruptcy in June 2020 and laid off 3,480 employees — 95% of the entire workforce
- â–¸Lost approximately $150 million between 2017 and 2019 as TPG's growth-at-all-costs strategy stretched the company thin
- â–¸Ballooned from a focused operation to running 33 simultaneous shows, spreading creative talent too thin
- ▸The $70 million Las Vegas show R.U.N. lasted only five months — the shortest-lived Cirque production in 27 years
- â–¸Company insiders said the culture shifted 'from close cooperation to let's build it quickly, let's prime the pump'