Two lawyers are among Retail Acquisitions directors facing questions from Government over their role in the collapse of BHS.
Linklaters and Olswang could also be called before MPs to answer questions about the sale of the department store chain last year.
Bates Wells Braithwaite (BWB) head of corporate and commercial Mark Tasker and Manleys partner Eddie Parladorio, who is also head of legal at Retail Acquisitions, are among the directors and former directors who are understood to have received a multimillion-pound windfall soon after buying the retail chain.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) announced on Thursday (28 April) it had launched an inquiry into the sale and acquisition of BHS, which could also question the role of Linklaters and Olswang in the transaction.
BIS chair Iain Wright MP said: “The sale and acquisition of BHS raises real questions about whether directors acted in the best long-term interests of the company and their employees.
“In this inquiry we’ll want to question the role of advisers – the lawyers, bankers, auditors and others who advised on the sale and purchase of BHS – and examine the legal obligations of company directors in this process”.
Linklaters advised Arcadia on the sale with a team led by London corporate partners Owen Clay and Nick Garland, while Olswang advised Retail Acquisitions, with London corporate partner and head of the firm’s leisure and retail practice David Roberts leading.
BHS called in administrators earlier this week, becoming the UK’s biggest high street failure since Woolworths went bust in 2008.
Retail Acquisitions purchased the troubled BHS chain from Arcadia boss Philip Green in March 2015 for £1.
It has emerged more than £25m was paid out from BHS to its new owners in the 13 months between the Retail Acquisitons purchase and BHS’s collapse.
According to reports in the Guardian, the payout included £11m in legal and professional fees plus £2.1m in salaries and wages and £2.8m in management fees.
Former racing driver Dominic Chappell is understood to own 90 per cent of Retail Acquisitions. According to Companies House, he and Parladorio are two of three current directors of the company. Another four directors – Tasker, accountant Stephen Bourne, Kevin Smith and Lennart Henningson – have resigned from the company at various points in the last 14 months.
Tasker joined BWB as a partner in 2010 from Fox Williams. He was an associate at Bircham Dyson Bell between 1989 and 1996.
Meanwhile Parladorio has been a partner at private client firm Manleys since October 2013. He was previously a partner at Schillings for eight years until 2003, then went on to work at Avanti Law, Statham Gill Davies and MGP Law. He was appointed head of legal at Retail Acquisitions in March 2015, soon after it purchased BHS.
Weil Gotshal & Manges is advising BHS on the administration process with partners Adam Plainer and Mark Lawford leading.
DLA Piper partner Colin Ashford is advising administrators Duff & Phelps.
The Pensions Regulator has confirmed it is investigating BHS over a £571m deficit in its pension pot.
In a statement BWB said: “Mark Tasker was involved in the acquisition of BHS by Retail Acquisitions limited (RAL) in a purely personal capacity, quite separate from his role as a partner at BWB.
“He joined the board of RAL as a non-executive director on 5 December 2014. He resigned as a non-executive director of RAL on 11 March 2015, the day immediately following the acquisition of BHS. He has had no involvement in the management or affairs of RAL since that date. He has never been involved as a director or in the management of BHS. He has a 2.5 per cent minority shareholding in RAL which were transferred to him on 5 December 2014.”
A spokesperson for Manleys was not immediately available for comment.