Weil Gotshal & Manges advised the embattled retailer as it filed for administration yesterday, while DLA Piper is being instructed by administrator and longstanding client Duff &Phelps. Weil London head of restructuring Adam Plainer has advised BHS alongside restructuring partner Mark Lawford. Meanwhile, Duff & Phelps has been advised by a team from DLA led by Leeds-based partner Colin Ashford.

Company in crisis

The move towards administration comes after a planned rescue package, which would have seen BHS offload some of its stores to rival retailer Sports Direct and restructure its £571m pension scheme debt with the Pension Protection Fund, collapsed last week. BHS currently carries a total debt of around £1.3bn and was offloaded last year to City consortium Retail Acquisitions by former billionaire owner Sir Phillip Green for just £1.

Sources: The Lawyer; Legal Business