Shareholders of a collapsed £450m (€653m) split-capital trust previously run by Aberdeen Asset Management have approved a deal to sell it to Brightstar Ventures and Chalina Holdings, two private trust-based firms, for just £3.7m.

The sale of Aberdeen Preferred Income, which is still subject to court approval, will raise £1.25m for shareholders in the failed split-cap trust, one of almost 30 which have collapsed leaving thousands of investors with heavy losses.