TfL and its legal advisers, BCLP, are being accused over the handling of the sale of the company's office lease.

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) and its client Transport for London (TfL) have been accused of mishandling the £120 million sale of the transport authority's headquarters.

Last month, BCLP's real estate partner Simon Barnett led the team advising TfL on the sale of the leasehold of its offices at 55 Broadway – situated by St James's Park – to property investor Integrity International Group for £120 million.

However, JPW Real Estate, an advisory firm that made a matching offer on the sale on behalf of one of India's largest property companies, claims that its bid was ignored.

JPW Real Estate claims BCLP "may have had a conflict of interest", as BCLP had advised Integrity International on the £1 billion sale of its Grange Hotel portfolio of four London hotels earlier this year.

Simon Wainwright, founding director of JPW Real Estate, told Legal Week: "It does not feel like a fair process. It feels somehow that it was a staged process with a predetermined outcome – it needs to be far more transparent.

"If you've got two identical offers, you would entertain having a meeting or a discussion rather than brush one off to the side."

He said it was notable that up until March this year – the same time as the formal marketing of 55 Broadway commenced – BCLP was acting both for TfL and separately for Integrity International on the sale of its Grange Hotel portfolio. He said he was concerned that this may have led to a conflict of interest and added: "It all feels a little too close for comfort."

Wainwright acknowledged that different lawyers were working on each transaction. The BCLP team advising Integrity International on the sale of their hotel portfolio in March was led by head of real estate Chris de Pury, he said.

A BCLP spokesperson did not provide details on the Integrity transaction and said: "We do not comment on client transactions."

TfL refutes the claims. It claims that the final two bidders had "prepared to exchange and complete [the transaction] within a shorter timeframe than that offered by JPW Real Estate", and that JPW Real Estate did not register its interest until the end of July – two months after the building was put on the market.

TfL added that the final two bidders, which did not include JPW, had "already undertaken work to understand the significant engineering complexities of the site".

The story was first reported by The Times.

Graeme Craig, director of commercial development at TfL, said: "These claims are completely wrong. We ran a fair and open process for the sale of the 55 Broadway office complex – striking a great deal and securing more than £120 million that will be reinvested into improving the transport network and providing new homes for London.

"The property was offered and successfully advertised to the open market in May 2019, using an established and reputable agent and advisers. JPW Real Estate only submitted a conditional offer two months after the sale process had begun, which TfL considered to be weaker in a number of ways than two good offers already received from high-quality parties.

"Following detailed due diligence and having taken our professional advisers' advice, we went on to make what we believe to be the best decision on the sale and future of 55 Broadway."

Macfarlanes advised Integrity International on the acquisition of 55 Broadway with a team led by real estate partners Dominic Cunliffe and Anthony Burnett-Scott.

Integrity International did not immediately respond to requests for comment.