Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell's family business has been placed into liquidation, paving the way for administrators to seek £6m owed to the collapsed retailer.
A court ruled on Thursday that Retail Acquisitions, which Mr Chappell used to buy BHS for £1 in 2015, could be liquidated after weeks of wrangling.
It means that administrator Duff & Phelps, which is attempting to return money to creditors, can access Retail Acquisitions' financial accounts.
Under Mr Chappell's tenure as owner of BHS, £8.4m was taken out of the chain by Retail Acquisitions, with £6m still owed when it collapsed last year.
It is understood Mr Chappell is likely to appeal against the court decision.
The administrator said in a statement: 'Duff & Phelps, acting on behalf of BHS Group Ltd, is satisfied that Retail Acquisitions Limited has been put into liquidation.
'The process of realising the assets of RAL can now commence to the benefit of all the creditors of the BHS companies.'
Mr Chappell had argued against liquidating RAL as it would make his own potential claim against Sir Philip Green's Arcadia Group more difficult to pursue.
Sir Philip owned BHS for 15 years before selling it to Mr Chappell.
BHS plunged into administration just over a year ago, impacting 11,000 jobs and around 19,000 pension holders, leaving a £571m pension deficit.
Sir Philip agreed to pay £363m to settle the BHS pension scheme in February.
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