Youth fashion retailer Republic has been bought by private equity group TPG for £300m. TPG is financing the purchase entirely with equity from its $18bn global buy-out fund in one of the smallest deals the San-Francisco-based group has ever done in Europe.

TPG aims to at least double the number of Republic stores in the UK and Ireland from 103 to more than 200. It hopes to repeat the success of J-Crew, the US fashion chain which quadrupled its store network in the decade of TPGâ??s ownership.

Republic has done well during the recession partly because of its young target market. In spite of high youth unemployment, UK retailers say that student loans and funding from parents have sustained youth spending while older consumers have cut back.