Quebec pledges up to $200M US to support Cirque du Soleil

The Quebec government is coming to the rescue of Cirque du Soleil, pledging to loan up to $200 million USto support the live entertainment giant whose operations remain paralyzed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon says the province will become a creditor of the company under an agreement in principle between Investissement Qubec and Cirque's three main shareholders Texas-based TPG Capital, Chinese firm Fosun and the Caisse de dpt et placement, Quebec's pension fund.

Fitzgibbon suggests that Quebec would also have the option of buying Cirque in the event that shareholders decide to sell their stakes.

In exchange for financial support, the company's head office must remain in the province and its senior executives have to reside there.

The minister's announcement followed one by Cirque founder Guy Lalibert Sunday, who said he wants to buy back the 36-year-old circus company that he sold for $1.5 billion US in 2015, after growing it from a troupe of stilt walkers and fire breathers into a global entertainment titan.

The pandemic has forced Cirque which carries a debt estimated at more than $900 million US to cancel all 44 shows and lay off about 4,700 employees, the vast majority of its workforce.