Cirque du Soleil, the touring circus company, has sold a 20 per cent stake to Dubai World, the state-controlled investment firm that owns the QE2, the Southampton and Tilbury docks and Turnberry, the golf resort.

The deal, rumoured to value Cirque at about £1 billion, will leave it in the hands of Guy Laliberté, its Canadian founder and chief executive, while providing funds for worldwide expansion.

Dubai World is buying the stake through its Nakheel and Istithmar subsidiaries. Nakheel has a deal with Cirque to build a theatre on Palm Jumeirah, its island resort off Dubai.