Until Friday, InBev's battle to seize control of Anheuser-Busch was shaping up nicely as a bout to rival Scottish & Newcastle's heavyweight tussle with the combined forces of Carlsberg and Heineken. With the Stella Artois and Budweiser both threatening legal action against the other, drinks sector commentators had already started settling for in for a summer-long game of tit-for-tat.

But whereas the S&N board dug its trench at 800p a share and vigorously repelled several lower offers from its Continental attackers, August Busch IV has raised the white flag at the first sign of an improved offer. This surrender by the Budweiser maker's chief executive is in contrast to a comment in April to the company's wholesale distributors that the group would not be taken over "on my watch".

Given that Mr Busch is a direct descendant of one of the brewer's founding fathers, such a defensive attitude is perhaps understandable. But the problem he faced was that not only do the Busch family speak for less than 4 per cent of the shares, but the family itself was not singing from the same song sheet. Indeed, his uncle, Adolphus Busch IV, went so far as to offer himself for election to an alternative board proposed by InBev.

But why did the AB chief executive give in so quickly? Perhaps it was the threat of legal action by other shareholders. Or maybe it was a realisation that, with the US economy sinking like a cold beer on a hot day, his continued rejection of the Stella Artois brewer's attentions looked increasingly untenable. The extra $5 a share - plus the offer of a seat in the enlarged InBev's board - was an offer he simply could not refuse.

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