Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte intends to try to buy back the world's most famous circus troupe, which is struggling due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Laliberte, a former stilt-walker-turned-millionaire who co-founded the troupe in 1984, sold his last remaining stake in Cirque in February.
Cirque du Soleil has been hit hard by the pandemic, which forced it to cancel 44 shows around the world and furlough 4,679 employees, or 95 percent of its staff. Laliberte, who sold most of his shares to Chinese and American investors in a $1.5 billion deal in 2015, declined to give details on his eventual offer.
"We have a good plan. We think we'll be able to bring back the sacred fire," he said, adding he wanted to keep the Canadian management team and the troupe's headquarters in Montreal. He had previously expressed a desire to play a role in saving the circus, in an open letter published May 13.
The circus is heavily handicapped by an estimated debt of $900 million.
In 2015, American investment group TPG Capital acquired a 60 percent in the troupe, and China's Fosun Group bought 20 percent.
