Sir Philip Green set out a secret plan to sell his high-street empire over dinner with two of HSBC‘s most senior bankers, The Sunday Times revealed.
A leaked email describes how the billionaire owner of Arcadia Group discussed finding a Chinese buyer for Topshop, his flagship brand, and selling his weaker businesses.
The disclosure raises questions about the judgment of the tycoon and the bank’s UK chief executive, Ian Stuart, after both denied last week that there had been conversations of any kind over a sale of any part of Arcadia.
Green’s plans for his businesses are in the spotlight after the collapse of the department store BHS two years ago. He was heavily criticised by a parliamentary committee after he sold BHS to a serial bankrupt little more than a year before it went into administration with a £571m deficit in its pension funds.
Green, 65, still oversees 2,800 stores worldwide under brands such as Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Evans and Wallis, employing 22,000 people.
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