By Ryan Nakashima, Business Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --AMC Entertainment is acquiring rival Carmike Cinemas to create the world's largest movie theater chain.
AMC, which Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group bought in 2012, said Thursday it is paying $1.1 billion including debt for Carmike.
The combined company will be the dominant theater chain in North American and signals Wanda's further expansion into the entertainment industry. Just two months ago, it said it would spend $3.5 billion to acquire mid-level studio Legendary Entertainment, the co-financier of blockbusters like "Jurassic World" and "The Dark Knight."
Wanda is also behind a multibillion-dollar studio complex being built in eastern China that was used to shoot the upcoming movie, "The Great Wall."
AMC will pay $30 in cash per share, about 19 percent higher than the $25.11 Carmike shares closed at Thursday.
The acquisition will boost AMC's theater locations by more than 70 percent to well over 600 and increase its screen count by half to nearly 8,400. Regal Entertainment Group, the current leader, runs nearly 7,400 screens in about 570 theaters.
The boards of both companies approved the deal, which is expected to close by the end of the year following a review by government competition authorities.
AMC CEO Adam Aron said he hopes the combination will boost profits in 2017 and enable about $35 million in annual savings, while bringing upscale amenities like alcohol service, reclining chairs, and expanded food offerings to more venues.
He said the cost of upgrading would be "reasonable" and profitable. He also said Wanda, which owns 75 percent of AMC, was supportive of the deal, but he declined to speak on behalf of Wanda.
"Clearly, they are supportive of what AMC is doing, and what AMC is doing is we're growing our business," Aron said.
Aron said any possible theater closures would "depend on a conversation with the Justice Department."
He noted there are only a few markets where the companies' theaters overlap and where closures might occur. AMC is focused on larger cities while Carmike is in smaller markets.
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. is based in Leawood, Kansas, which will be the combined company's new headquarters. Carmike Cinemas Inc. is headquartered in Columbus, Georgia.
South Korea fines Meta $15 million for illegally collecting information on Facebook users
South Korea's privacy watchdog on Tuesday fined social media company Meta 21.6 billion won ($15 million) for illegally collecting sensitive personal information from Facebook users, including data about their political views and sexual orientation, and sharing it with thousands of advertisers.
It was the latest in a series of penalties against Meta by South Korean authorities in recent years as they increase their scrutiny of how the company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, handles private information.
Following a four-year investigation, South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission concluded that Meta unlawfully collected sensitive information about around 980,000 Facebook users, including their religion, political views and whether they were in same-sex unions, from July 2018 to March 2022.
It said the company shared the data with around 4,000 advertisers.
South Korea's privacy law provides strict protection for information related to personal beliefs, political views and sexual behavior, and bars companies from processing or using such data without the specific consent of the person involved.
The commission said Meta amassed sensitive information by analyzing the pages the Facebook users liked or the advertisements they clicked on.
The company categorized ads to identify users interested in themes such as specific religions, same-sex and transgender issues, and issues related to North Korean escapees, said Lee Eun Jung, a director at the commission who led the investigation on Meta.
"While Meta collected this sensitive information and used it for individualized services, they made only vague mentions of this use in their data policy and did not obtain specific consent," Lee said.
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