Sunday 22 September 2019 11:53 am

Zac Goldsmith shared in £16m payout before All Star Lanes went bust

Investors including Tory MP Zac Goldsmith, diamond mogul Anthony Oppenheimer and fund manager Jim Mellon are said to have shared in a £16m payout from a chain of bowling alleys just months before it went bust.

All Star Lanes, which owns four bowling alleys in London, was sold to Risk Capital Partners last week as part of a pre-pack administration, the Sunday Times reported.

But the sale, reportedly valued at £3m, is set to wipe out the majority of the company’s creditors, including HMRC, which issued a winding-up petition this month over unpaid taxes.

The rescue deal will raise questions about why All Star Lanes decided to offer the £5 per share dividend just months before it ran out of money.

The investors struck gold after the company sold its branch in Whiteleys shopping centre in Bayswater for £18m.

Conservative MP and former mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith owned shares in All Star Lanes valued at more than £70,000 until April, according to the register of MPs’ interests.

Other listed shareholders include De Beers group diamond magnate Oppenheimer, billionaire investor Mellon and fund manager New Star Investment Trust, according to the report.

All Star Lanes was founded in 2006 by Mark von Westenholz and Adam Breeden. The company’s first branch was in Holborn, and it now operates bowling alleys in Brick Lane, Westfield Stratford and Westfield White City, as well as a fifth site in Manchester.

Breeden has since launched other successful leisure ventures, including Bounce ping pong club and darts venue Flight Club.

All Star Lanes swung to a loss of £333,000 on sales of £15.5m in the year to the end of 2017, according to the firm’s latest accounts.

Advisory firm BDO handled the pre-pack administration to Risk Capital, which is led by restaurant entrepreneur Luke Johnson. Some creditors, such as HSBC, will be repaid from the sale, but others are likely to see their value wiped out, according to the report.

All Star Lanes has been contacted for comment.

Main image credit: Getty