Lovells masterminds £3.4bn Granada bid

Lovell White Durrant is advising Granada, the television and leisure company, in its £3.4 billion unsolicited bid for Forte, the UK's fourth largest hotel group. Corporate finance partner Dan Mace is leading a six-partner and 10-assistant solicitor team drawn from across the firm. Mace advised Granada last year on its successful acquisition of television company LWT. Linklaters & Paines, a regular adviser to Forte on corporate law matters, is acting on the company's defence bid. Charles Allen-Jones, until recently Linklaters' corporate head, leads a similar-sized legal team. Granada's formal offer document was expected "shortly" after Forte rejected the initial bid for "totally failing to recognise the value" of the business.