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The fight for control of Boral appears to be over and the shareholders are the real winners after its board conducted a spectacular backflip and declared unanimous support for Seven Group Holdings' offer.

Harry Triguboff's Meriton group has landed its biggest single buyer of the veteran developer's 60 years in business after an Australia-based Chinese-born entrepreneur bought 165 units at about $1m each.

And Google's cloud chief tells The Australian's Jared Lynch why being a slow starter in the artificial intelligence race will ensure his company comes out on top.

The Australian sharemarket finished the week on a downward note , although it is little changed over a five-day average. The benchmark ASX 200 closed on Friday 0.3 per cent softer at 7788.10 points while the broader All Ordinaries index also lost 0.3 per cent to 8050.20.

The Big Read

It was a chance conversation over coffee in early 2023 with Richard Uechtritz, the former chief executive-turned director of retailer JB Hi-Fi, that gave Andy Bowen the inspiration to bring Uber to the long antiquated building supplies industry.

Nearly three-and-a-half years ago his family’s century-old Bowens timber and hardware business, which had been established by his great grandfather, launched its e-commerce function for trade and retail buyers.

But the conversation with Uechtritz last year proved to be a turning point in supercharging Bowens’ online ambitions.

Uechtritz said JB Hi-Fi, one of the nation’s premier electronic retailers, had been looking at ways to utilise its bricks-and-mortar network to deliver products to customers faster, and was trialing the “Uberisation” of its home delivery service.

Damon Kitney

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