Cityneon hires Cirque du Soleil's former director of creations

FORMER director of creations at Cirque du Soleil Welby Altidor is now group chief creative officer at Cityneon Holdings.

Mr Altidor's appointment comes right after Lucrum 1 Investments, a consortium led by Cityneon's executive director and group CEO Ron Tan, acquired 52.51 per cent of shares for S$115.61 millionlast month, the mainboard-listed firm said on Wednesday.

Lucrum 1 Investments is now Cityneon's largest shareholder, owning approximately 68.86 per cent of the agency that transforms customer and brand experiences.

Cityneon comprises five business divisions - interior architecture, experiential environments, events, exhibitions and intellectual property rights. Its wholly owned subsidiary Victory Hill Exhibitions is best known for creating the highly-acclaimed Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N.

The group said that it picked Mr Altidor among many candidates because of "his creative acumen and business intuitions, honed during his 16 years with Cirque du Soleil".

Mr Altidor began his career as a talent scout for Cirque du Soleil. He became the youngest casting director in the company's history, and has worked on more than 15 productions.

Cityneon wants to use his skills to spearhead and transform the group's previous creative projects as well as new business ventures.

"To have Welby, a 16-year creative veteran of the organisation I admire, now helming our creative team, makes me confident that Cityneon will stand to benefit from his vast know-how with creating extraordinary live experiences, recruiting outstanding talents to execute stunning artistic creations, to help us excel and exceed our current product offerings," Mr Tan said.

Mr Altidor will be based in Las Vegas, where Cityneon will establish its second presence. It already has an existing creative office in Los Angeles.