US and Chinese investors buy Cirque du Soleil

American private equity firm TPG and China's Fosun on April 20 bought Canadian entertainment juggernaut Cirque du Soleil for an undisclosed sum as the carnival looks to expand in Asia.

The circus troupe's founder Guy Laliberte retains a small stake of the Montreal-based company he started in 1984 and will continue providing "strategic and creative input."   

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, Canadian media said TPG, which has also invested in ride-share firm Uber and the Caesars Palace casino in Las Vegas, acquired 60 percent of the firm valued at $1.5 billion.

Chinese billionaire Guo Guangchang's Fosun, which in February won a bidding war for French holiday company Club Med, gets 20 percent.  And the Quebec government through its investment arm Caisse de Depot et Placement picks up a 10 percent stake, in exchange for assurances the Cirque's head office and creative team remain in Canada.

"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," Laliberte said in a statement.

160 million spectators in 330 cities and 48 countries

Since its inception, Cirque has thrilled almost 160 million spectators in over 330 cities and 48 countries. It will present 18 shows around the world in 2015.

But the company has experienced financial woes in recent years, and struggled to set a new direction since deciding in 2006 that it needed a partner to grow further.

For the first time ever, Cirque posted a loss in 2012 and subsequently cut 1,000 out...