Quebecers lose their circus

This is the end of Quebec shareholding within Cirque du Soleil. A group of creditors from English Canada and the United States will take control after a process of auctioning the company.

• Read also: La Caisse paid US $ 75 million for the shares of Guy Laliberté

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Parties that wanted to submit an offer for the routed Quebec flagship had until Tuesday at 5 p.m. to do so.

From a reliable source Tuesday night, it was finally the offer of a group of Cirque creditors grouped around the Toronto fund Catalyst Capital that was retained by controller Ernst & Young.

The American funds CBAM (controlled by one of the owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers), Sound Point and a few others are also part of this group of creditors who therefore win the auction for the Circus, which had placed itself under the protection of the courts. .

By virtue of this offer, which was considered to be the initial one for Cirque, these Cirque creditors agree to cancel some US $ 900 million (CA $ 1.18 billion) in debt owed to them and undertake to inject US $ 375 million (CA $ 493 million) in the business for its relaunch.

They also committed to maintaining the company’s head office in Quebec for five years.

“Creditors are providing an excellent way out of the crisis for Cirque. The upcoming recapitalization will provide employees, artists and partners with an invigorated platform to deliver performances to a global audience, ”commented Gabriel de Alba, manager and head of the Cirque file at Catalyst on Tuesday evening.

“With Cirque’s recent troubles behind us, we look forward to closing the transaction quickly and supporting the company to rekindle the magic and artistic genius that have made Cirque an iconic global brand and creative force. Cirque has a digital future with us and we are going to prioritize high-level governance and social responsibility for the company, ”he added.

The cashier discarded

There will therefore no longer be any Quebec shareholders in the Cirque founded by waders from Charlevoix more than thirty years ago. The shareholders of Cirque until June, namely the American fund TPG, the Chinese group Fosun and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, are excluded from the game.

The Caisse has already quantified its losses at $ 228 million for its investment in Cirque, including $ 100 million (US $ 75 million) swallowed up in February just to buy back shares of founder Guy Laliberté.