BHS's former owner Retail Acquisitions expected to be called before MPs

Retail Acquisitions, a group of lawyers and financiers which acquired BHS from Sir Philip Green for £1 last year, will reportedly be summoned to face Parliament’s Business, Innovation and Skills committee.

The committee will be investigating the level of due diligence Retail Acquisitions was legally required to undertake before buying BHS from Green, according to Sky News.

MPs are also expected to look at what checks Green’s Arcadia Group made to ensure that Retail Acquisitions was a responsible owner.

Retail Week revealed last Friday that BHS was on the brink of collapse, which was later confirmed on Monday when the 88-year-old chain fell into administration.

On Tuesday, the Work and Pensions Select Committee said it will look at BHS’s £571m pension deficit and its implications for the state-backed Pension Protection Fund. Green will be called to face this committee, it was confirmed yesterday.

Green could be invited to give evidence to both committees. Pressure on Green has mounted since BHS’s collapse as shadow business secretary Angela Eagle said there are “serious questions” for the retail tycoon. 

Meanwhile, Dominic Chappell, Retail Acquisition’s figurehead, is preparing an audacious bid to buy back BHS. Chappell is reportedly working with four US equity firms to regain control of the chain.

The controversial figure has also reportedly criticised BHS former chief executive Darren Topp for his handling of the business.

Any bid by Chappell will face stiff competition. BHS’s administrators are understood to have had more than 50 expressions of interest in the chain.

B&M is among the retailers circling the collapsed chain’s stores, Retail Week revealed yesterday. Other names linked to a possible bid for stores include Sports Direct, Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Primark.