Cirque du Soleil has announced it has acquired Blue Man Productions, giving Cirque\u2014and TPG\u2014even more content to exploit abroad.<\/b>
\nCirque du Soleil just got a little more colorful.
The Montreal, Canada-based live entertainment company has announced it has acquired Blue Man Productions, the theater group known for its tech- and music-infused acts and, of course, its performers’ penchant for blue body paint.
The acquisition isn\u2019 t all that surprising, especially when you consider Cirque\u2019s corporate owners. In 2015, private equity firm TPG bought a majority stake in the creative powerhouse, snapping it up for a reported $1.4 billion. Since then, TPG has sought to streamline Cirque\u2019s processes. (An example: The circus no longer tests every piece of fabric used to sew its costumes.) It has also sought to capitalize on new areas of global growth, including a soon-to-be-launched «resident» show in China.
The Blue Man acquisition gives Cirque\u2014and TPG\u2014even more content to exploit abroad. The Canadian company has decades of experience bringing its shows to more than 130 cities around the world, and under TPG, it is making a more serious push into China in particular.
\u201cPeople recognize Cirque\u2019s brand and how unique of an art form it is, \u201d says David Trujillo, a TPG partner and member of Cirque\u2019s board. \u201cBut they tend to overlook the capabilities that they have in things like being able to tour globally and deal with visa issues and promoter relationships. There\u2019s a real know-how there that not a lot of companies have.\u201d
There is another reason the deal makes sense. Circuses and some performing companies have been in decline. Earlier this year, after a run of 146 years, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced that it would soon shut down. With increasing competition for peoples’ time and attention, getting people to shell out money to see live shows can be tricky. (It was especially tricky for traditional circuses, at least partially because of their controversial use of animals.) TPG’s strategy is to turn Cirque into more of a platform play\u2014utilizing the company’s global infrastructure to take more and more shows to different countries at a faster pace. In this light, the Blue Man acquisition makes sense.
\u201cWe want to broaden our horizons, develop new forms of entertainment, reach out to new audiences and expand our own creative capabilities, » Daniel Lamarre, CEO of Cirque du Soleil, said in a company press released issued today. \u201cOur extensive marketing research…confirms that Blue Man Group is a strong \u2018love brand\u2019 with a solid fan base \u2014 something else our two brands have in common.\u201d
TPG did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. But the firm’s Trujillo says more acquisitions will soon follow. What remains to be seen now? Whether or not the PE firm and Cirque will find a more optimized supply chain for all that blue body paint.<\/p>\n

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