Cityneon Appoints Welby Altidor, Former Cirque du Soleil’s Executive Creative Director of Creatives as Group Chief Creative Officer

Mainboard-listed Cityneon Holdings Limited (SGX:5hJ) (“Cityneon”, the “Company”, “城贸控股有限公司” or collectively with its subsidiaries, the “Group”), is pleased to announce the appointment of Welby Altidor, former Executive Creative Director of Creations at Cirquee du Soleil.

Altidor is poised to work his inventive prowess for Cityneon by joining the Singapore-listed company as its Group Chief Creative Officer.

Cityneon is an agency that transforms customer and brand experiences, made up of five business divisions – Interior Architecture, Experiential Environments, Events, Exhibitions and Intellectual Property Rights (“IPR”). Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Victory y Hill Exhibitions, is best known for creating the highly-acclaimed Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N.

Altidor’s appointment comes right after Lucrum 1 Investments Ltd, a consortium led by Mr Ron Tan, Executive Director and Group CEO of Cityneon, procured the acquisition of 52.51% shares held by Cityneon’s previous majority shareholder for S$115,612,731 (approximately US$84 million) in July 2017. Lucrum 1 Investments Ltd now owns approximately 68.86% of Cityneon and is its largest shareholder.

Amongst the many candidates, Cityneon chose to work with Altidor based on his creative acumen and business intuitions honed during his 16 years with Cirque du Soleil.

Welby began his career as a talent scout for Cirque du Soleil, becoming the youngest Casting Director in the company’s history, working on over 15 productions. As Executive Creative Director, Altidor oversaw and influenced several shows including LUZIA and Michael Jackson ONE, an award-winning hit that is in its fourth year of residence at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas (MGM). Altidor has collaborated with a roster of luminaries, including Jamie King, Billy Crystal, Alicia Keys, Russell Simmons and The Michael Jackson Estate. As one of the founders of C:LAB, the creative laboratory of The Cirque du Soleil Group, Altidor left his creative mark on the innovative entertainment company.

Due to his success with Cirque du Soleil, Altidor is also a sought-after speaker, with clients including Fortune 100 companies like Nike, Sephora and SAP. His first book, “Creative Courage: Leveraging Imagination, Collaboration and Innovation to Create Success Beyond Your Wildest Dreams” will be published internationally by Wiley in Fall 2017.

Cityneon, now with Altidor helming the Creative Team, aims to use his skills to spearhead and transform the Group’s previous creative projects, as well as design and execute new projects and business ventures. As an expert creator of live experiences, Altidor’s appointment is in line with Cityneon’s vision of creating experiences that transcend tradition to wow and move audiences beyond their expectations.

“I am thrilled to have Welby joined the Cityneon family. I’ve mentioned in public many times about my enthusiastic admiration of Cirque du Soleil and how they are the inspiration behind where we are today. To have Welby, a 16-year creative veteran of the organization 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,” says Mr Ron Tan, Executive Director and Group CEO of Cityneon.

Altidor is excited to join the Cityneon team. “Cityneon is ready to launch the next wave of memorable, engaging and ground-breaking entertainment experiences for audiences all over the world. It’s an honour to join Ron and the team to create with impact!” says Altidor.

Altidor will be based in Las Vegas, where Cityneon will establish another presence in addition to the existing creative office in Los Angeles.

According to Ron Tan, Altidor’s appointment will continue to develop Cityneon’s story-telling culture – “working with international movie studios and global partners to deliver unique experiences to audiences around the world.”

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