French Connection shareholders have backed the £29m takeover of the fashion brand led by a Newcastle-based businessman, putting the company back into private hands for the first time since 1983.
The new owners are expected to take over on 8 November. The 75-year-old chair and chief executive, Stephen Marks, who co-founded the chain in 1972 and owns nearly 42% of the company, is to receive about £12m for his stake in the business.
Apinder Singh Ghura, who in February bought a 25% stake in French Connection from Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, the owner of Sports Direct, teamed up to buy out the brand with a Manchester-based business partner, Amarjit Singh Grewal, and KJR Brothers, which is led by Rafiq Patel, a textile businessman.
Ghura spent
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