Buyer Could Save Bankrupt Big Apple Circus; Show to Return for the Holidays?

The Big Apple Circus could be back for the holidays in New York City, following a successful auction.

As previously reported, The Big Apple Circus, a New York and national cultural treasure for four decades, announced in November that it had filed for bankruptcy.

Auctions for all of the company's assets, including all of the Circus' performance equipment and intellectual property, were held on February 3 and 7.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Compass Partners LLC beat out several competitors, including circus veteran Bello Nock, with a $1.3 million bid.

"The intent is definitely to have the show in New York for the 2017 holiday season," a representative for the investment firm said.

The sale still must be approved by a bankruptcy judge; in the event that it falls through, Nock and his wife, Jennifer, would take possession of the assets and work to continue Big Apple Circus's mission.

Before the auctions, Will Maitland Weiss, Executive Director of the Big Apple Circus, said in a statement: "We are grateful to our board members, staff, artists, donors, audience members, and community partners who have stood by us and continued to offer their support to save the Circus. We hope to see a revived Big Apple Circus back under the Big Top to delight audiences of all ages, abilities, and income levels in the years to come."

Conceived and founded by Paul Binder and Michael Christensen in 1977 as a nonprofit, leading presenter of live family entertainment, the Big Apple Circus is renowned for its performances and community programs. The circus engaged the communities it served through the joy and wonder of classic circus arts, creating direct, shared connections in hospitals, nursing homes, and schools in its NYC home and in cities across America.

Since its founding in 1977, the Big Apple Circus has performed its annual one-ring show under the Big Top for millions of children, families, and fans of all ages and means, in its New York City home at Lincoln Center and on tour. Over the years, the nonprofit organization expanded its mission to include special performances for children who are blind, deaf, on the autism spectrum, and/or have other physical or cognitive disabilities, as well as a variety of community programs, like Clown Care, which brings laughter and joy to aid the healing process of patients in leading pediatric hospitals nationwide.