The past few days have witnessed a lot of puzzled looks and head scratching at the "strategy" of the DLA/Piper Rudnick tie-up.

Finally though, The Diary can exclusively reveal the real reason behind the momentous merger.

Forget practice lines, global presence and all the other guff, what Piper really saw in DLA was one thing – beer.

Rumour has it that Piper co-chairman Francis Burch is a huge fan of real ale from bygone times in London, with a particular fancy for Whitbread – which has now been swallowed up by brewing giant InterbrewAmbev.

DLA hands Piper a network of offices that contain some of the UK's most renowned brewing cities.

Suddenly the logic behind the deal becomes clear…