MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 11: Acrobats perform during a media preview of Cirque du Soleil KURIOS on March 11, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia.
MONTREAL — Quebecor Inc. says it wants to “rescue” Cirque du Soleil by purchasing a controlling stake in the struggling company and bringing its ownership back home to Quebec. In a letter sent to four federal ministers from Quebec, the telecommunications company says it is in funding talks with Quebec’s pension fund manager as well the Fonds de Solidarite FTQ and the Royal Bank of Canada.
Quebecor says in separate press release it is ready to spend “several hundred million dollars” to revive operations at the circus producer, which has halted all 44 shows worldwide and laid off 95 per cent of its employees amid the COVID-19 pandemic.