Cirque du Soleil has sold a majority stake to US and Chinese private investors, valuing the company at $1.5 billion.
Guy Laliberte, who founded the Canadian circus company in 1984, has retained a minority stake.
The two buyers are US private equity firm TPG Capital LP and Fosun Capital Group, which is owned by Chinese conglomerate Fosun International Ltd.
Cirque du Soleil has staged performances in front of 160 million people in 48 countries around the world.
The company has recently sought to expand in China.
“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,” said Guy Laliberte said in a statement.
Quebec pension fund giant Caisse de Depot et Placement will also acquire a minority stake.
Based in Montreal, Cirque du Soleil started as the project of a small group of stilt-walkers and street performers who formed a performance troupe called the Le Club des Talons Hauts (the High Heels Club) to put on a performance celebrating the 450th anniversary of the European discovery of Canada by Jacques Cartier in 1534.
Since then, the company has expanded rapidly, taking in approximately $1 billion annually from 18 global shows, some of which tour and others of which are based in theatres in Las Vegas.
It employs about 5,000 people globally and is known for its mixture of acrobatics, artistic costumes and choreography.
Cirque du Soleil has faced difficulties in its efforts to expand, which led to layoffs in 2012.
In 2013, Cirque du Soleil was fined by US regulators after one of its acrobats died during a live show in Las Vegas.
James Cameron and Cirque Du Soleil have announced a touring arena show based on the director’s 3D blockbuster Avatar.
Cirque Du Soleil’s Avatar show is expected to begin a global tour in late 2015, before the release of three Avatar sequels currently in pre-production.
2009’s Avatar is Hollywood’s highest grossing film ever.
James Cameron previously worked with Cirque Du Soleil in 2012, executive producing its 3D film Worlds Away.
Cirque Du Soleil’s Avatar show is expected to begin a global tour in late 2015, before the release of three Avatar sequels currently in pre-production
“Over the years, I have discovered the extraordinary talents and imaginations of both the artists and the creative forces behind Cirque du Soleil,” he said.
“I know we share the common goal of bringing audiences to another level of entertainment experiences. I look forward to doing just that on this project.”
James Cameron and Cirque Du Soleil president and CEO Daniel Lamarre announced their plans at the C2MTL-Commerce and Creativity Conference in Montreal.
Daniel Lamarre said he was “thrilled” the circus company was getting to “explore the very inspirational Avatar realm for the live stage”.
The live show is going to be a co-production between James Cameron and Jon Landau’s company Lightstorm Entertainment, Cirque Du Soleil and Twentieth Century Fox which financed and distributed Avatar.
“Avatar remains a phenomenon that continues to inspire people around the globe, and combining it with the live event ingenuity of Cirque de Soleil is a perfect synthesis of imagination and talent,” said the film company’s chief Jim Gianopulos.
Avatar has made $2.7 billion worldwide and been awarded three Oscars, two BAFTAs and two Golden Globes.
The three sequels are expected to hit cinemas between December 2016 and December 2018 and will start filming later this year.
It is the first time Cirque Du Soleil has used a film for inspiration, although it has produced hit shows using the music of Michael Jackson and The Beatles.
A Cirque De Soleil artist slipped and fell during a performance in Las Vegas on Friday night, according to the organization.
The incident came just a few days after Cirque du Soleil was told it would be fined in the death of another performer.
The Cirque De Soleil acrobat was performing in an act known as the “Wheel of Death” during the 7 p.m. showing of the Zarkana stage production at the Aria Resort and Casino when he slipped and fell off the wheel, according to a statement on the group’s official Facebook page.
The Cirque De Soleil acrobat was performing in an act known as the “Wheel of Death” during showing of the Zarkana stage production at the Aria Resort and Casino when he slipped and fell off the wheel
The performance was stopped and the artist was taken by ambulance to the University Medical Center in Las Vegas, according to Cirque de Soleil spokesman Ann Paladie. He was in stable condition Saturday and was expected to be released in the next few days.
Ann Paladie said the acrobat was previously a performer in the group’s production KOOZA prior to performing in Zarkana.
The Clark County Fire Department confirmed it responded to a call that someone had fallen about 20 feet.
Zarkana includes Cirque du Soleil’s signature acrobatics far above the stage.
Cirque du Soleil will be fined after acrobat Sarah Guyard-Guillot died during one of its live shows in Las Vegas in June, Nevada state officials say.
Sarah Guyard-Guillot, 31, was performing at the MGM Grand hotel.
Investigators said Sarah Guyard-Guillot, a mother of two, fell 94ft to the floor when a safety wire became detached due to her rapid ascent.
They said Sarah Guyard-Guillot’s death was partly caused by a failure to give her adequate training.
Cirque du Soleil said Sarah Guyard-Guillot’s death was the first fatality during a live performance in its 29-year history.
The Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Cirque du Soleil Nevada on six counts.
These included inadequate equipment training for Sarah Guillot-Guyard, and a circus-fall protection programme that did not match state safety standards.
Cirque du Soleil will be fined after acrobat Sarah Guyard-Guillot died during one of its live shows in Las Vegas in June
The Nevada OSHA proposed more than $25,000 in penalties for the company.
It also proposed a fine of $7,000 against the MGM Grand hotel for exposing its employees to workplace hazards, including onstage open-sided floors and pyrotechnic dust used for Cirque du Soleil performances.
The accident happened during the final scene of the Canadian company’s show, Ka, a mixture of acrobatics, martial arts and puppetry.
Teri Williams, a spokeswoman for the Nevada Department of Business and Industry, said the report found that Sarah Guyard-Guillot had ascended too quickly, which caused the rope to detach from the sheave/pulley.
“The rope was severed when it encountered a shear point,” she said.
“The investigation concluded that she ascended too quickly, in part, because she did not receive proper training.”
Both Cirque du Soleil and the MGM Grand say they will appeal against the OSHA ruling.
“Cirque du Soleil completed an exhaustive review of its safety policies and procedures in the wake of the tragic accident involving Sarah,” said Cirque du Soleil spokeswoman Renee-Claude Menard.
“We have redoubled our efforts to ensure the overall diligence and safety of our performers and crew.”
Madonna was the top earner on Forbes’ recent Celebrity 100 list, raking in $125 million, but Michael Jackson easily topped her though, earning $160 million over the past year.
It’s the third time in the past five years that the top-earning celebrity in the world has come from the graveyard.
Much of Michael Jackson’s money comes from two Cirque du Soleil shows. Immortal, a touring show, has grossed over $300 million since opening last year. One, which opened at the Mandalay Bay in May, is routinely sold out. Both shows feature the usual Cirque du Soleil acrobatics but One comes with a bonus: a hologram-like illusion of Michael Jackson performs Man in the Mirror at the end of the show.
Michael Jackson also still earns from his music and his half of the Sony/ATV catalog, which includes hits by The Beatles, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift among others.
The King of Pop reclaims the No. 1 spot on Forbes magazine’s list from his friend Elizabeth Taylor.
Elizabeth Taylor, who passed away in 2011, earned an estimated $210 million in the 12 months to October 2012 thanks to a series of lucrative auctions at Christie’s of Taylor’s art, jewels and clothes. This year her earnings dropped to an estimated $25 million, landing her in fourth place.
Over the past 12 months, Elizabeth Taylor’s estate earned big bucks from her White Diamonds perfume, which in 2012 brought in $53 million in retail in the U.S. alone, according to Euromonitor International, her rights in old movies and her smart stock and real estate investments. Elizabeth Taylor’s estate, now represented by Hollywood talent agency UTA, is at work on several licensing deals. Expect to see Elizabeth Taylor’s name on high-end clothing and cosmetics in the near future.
Michael Jackson tops Forbes’ Top-Earning Dead Celebrities 2013
Forbes magazine’s list looks at earnings between October 2012 and October 2013. The magazine count money coming into the estate and it doesn’t deduct for how the estate handles it. To come up with its estimates Forbes talks to estate managers, licensors and lawyers involved in the dead celebrity business.
Ranking second on our list is Elvis Presley with an estimated $55 million in posthumous earnings. Elvis Presley may have taken a back seat to Michael Jackson, but his estate is still earning steadily thanks to his eternally popular image and his famous home, Graceland. That was enough to convince billionaire Leon Black and his firm, Apollo Global Management, to buy CKX, the parent company of American Idol and the estates of both Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali, for $509 million in 2011.
Sarah Guyard-Guillot, a performer in the famous Cirque du Soleil, has died after falling off a stage during a show in Las Vegas.
Paris-born Sarah Guyard-Guillot was performing in the Ka show at the MGM Grand.
The 31-year-old acrobat and mother of two was pronounced dead late on Saturday night in hospital after falling 50ft (15m) from the stage.
Sarah Guyard-Guillot’s death is believed to be the first fatality during a live performance in the show’s 30-year history.
Witnesses Dan Mosqueda told the Las Vegas Sun that Sarah Guyard-Guillot was being hoisted up the side of the stage when it appeared that she slipped free of her safety wire and plummeted to an open pit below.
“Initially, a lot of people in the audience thought it was part of the [show],” he said.
Cirque du Soleil performer Sarah Guyard-Guillot has died after falling off a stage during Ka show in Las Vegas
“But you could hear screaming, then groaning, and we could hear a female artist crying from the stage.”
The show was stopped and audience members told that refunds or vouchers to future shows would be offered. All performances of Ka have been cancelled until further notice.
Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte issued a statement Sunday praising the performer, who has been with the original cast since 2006 and has worked as an acrobat for 20 years.
“I am heartbroken. I wish to extend my sincerest sympathies to the family. We are reminded with great humility and respect how extraordinary our artists are each and every night,” he said.
The Ka show combines dance, acrobatics and performance art with pyrotechnics and complex aerial displays and is a resident show in Las Vegas. Millions of people around the world go to see touring and resident Cirque du Soleil shows every year.
Kai Chase, Michael Jackson’s former personal chef, has opened up about how Paris and her siblings have coped in the wake of their father’s death.
During a testimony in the Jackson family’s wrongful death suit against AEG Live regarding Michael Jackson’s death, Kai Chase revealed 15-year-old Paris, who is currently recovering in hospital following a failed suicide bid, is “devastated and lost”.
She also revealed that Paris Jackson no longer wants parties for her birthday since her father hosted a private circus for her when she turned 11.
Kai Chase said: “Being daddy’s little girl, Paris is devastated. She’s devastated and lost. She’s trying to find herself and find who she is. It’s taking a lot of love and understanding to keep her together. She breaks down, she cries, she talks about him.”
Earlier in her testimony, Kai Chase described an April 2009 birthday party for Paris Jackson that included a private circus. The Cirque du Soleil-style show featured men on stilts and a woman performing in a giant balloon, Kai Chase said.
Paris Jackson, who was turning 11, adored her father and Kai Chase helped decorate a room filled with posters and photos of Michael Jackson. The singer’s music was played throughout the party.
It was the last birthday party Paris Jackson, now 15, has had.
“Paris hasn’t had any birthdays since,” Kai Chase said.
“She hasn’t wanted to celebrate since.”
Michael Jackson’s youngest son, Blanket, who remains home-schooled, wears a T-shirt with his father’s image every Friday, she said.
A video deposition of Paris from March was shown as part of the trial on Tuesday, as the teenager is still too unwell to testify in person.
Paris Jackson no longer wants parties for her birthday since Michael Jackson hosted a private circus for her when she turned 11
The videos were used after lawyers for the Jackson family told the judge that Paris, who is suing the concert giant along with her grandmother Katherine, 83, and siblings, would be unable to testify in person due to the fact that she is still recovering in hospital.
Katherine Jackson’s lawsuit claims AEG failed to properly investigate Dr. Conrad Murray, who is serving a four-year prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter over Michael’s death, and pushed the superstar to rehearse and perform a planned series of 50 comeback shows titled This Is It.
Lawyers acting for Paris, Prince Michael, Blanket, and Katherine contend that pressure from AEG led to Michael Jackson’s death from an overdose of surgical anaesthetic in June 2009, two weeks before his This Is It concerts were to begin at the O2 Arena in London.
Both Paris Jackson and her brother Prince are listed as potential witnesses in the case, which is in its sixth week of trial.
However, in the video testimonial from March which was replayed on Tuesday, Paris Jackson claimed that her former nanny Grace Rwaramba, who has visited the teenager in hospital since her suicide attempt, was “obsessed” with Michael Jackson.
Paris Jackson said: “My dad didn’t like her so he tried to keep her away from us. He would send her to run errands a lot… He said she was sneaky, she was not an honest person and she lied a lot.”
She added in the footage: “She used to be [one of the nannies] but she got really creepy. This is going to freak you out. One time, it was before – me and my brother were really young – before Blanket was born.
“When he would stay in a hotel, or whatever, she would call the hotel and say that she was his wife. She was obsessed with him… They let her in and he’d wake up and she would be in his bed.”
Marvin S. Putnam, a defense attorney for AEG Live, said Paris and Prince Jackson were deposed in the case because they are named plaintiffs. He said Paris Jackson’s testimony was not a “grilling” but urged privacy for her and her family.
“There’s a real person involved here,” Marvin S. Putnam said.
“There’s a 15-year-old girl and something incredibly tragic has happened that none of us know why and I think it would really be in everyone’s best interest and particularly in her best interest if rather than blowing this up into something else, that they were given a little bit of privacy to deal with something that has to be a tragic, tragic moment for all of them.”
“She’s 15,” he said.
“Someone should give her a break.”
According to TMZ, legal papers reveal the famous offspring are asking for $10 billion for all of the future earnings they claim their father would have generated if he had he lived.
According to the website, the family want an additional $50 million for various other damages.
AEG, which denies any liability for Michael Jackson’s death, says the huge figure is based on speculation and that the star’s career was on a downward spiral.
Legal analysts say the billions being claimed are unlikely to be awarded and are a legal tactic to get publicity for the case.
Just days prior to her suicide bid, Paris Jackson was reportedly told that she does not share the same biological father as Prince.
Then, over the days that followed, Paris Jackson spiraled into depression and was admitted to the UCLA medical centre hospital after cutting her wrists and taking an overdose of pills on June 5.
Whilst Paris Jackson is said to be feeling better, she could remain in hospital for another month.
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