Mills & Reeve is facing a professional negligence claim after the advice it gave to a company chief executive allegedly resulted in the businessman’s daughters paying a £1.3m ­inheritance tax bill.

It is alleged that the firm advised Christopher Swain on a management buyout of telecoms company Swains International when he was having surgery in Thailand.

Swain died while in ­hospital. His four daughters allege he believed that if he died his shareholding would transfer to them tax-free if the deal went through. They claim that the firm did not advise them that this was not the case.

The claimants say that, because Mills & Reeve did not advise Swain to wait until after surgery before going ahead with the deal, they were forced to pay an inheritance tax bill of £1.3m.

The four women have instructed King’s Lynn-based Berry & Walton to pursue the claim.