AMC to buy Carmike Cinemas for $1.1BLOS ANGELES — 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 more than 600 and increase its screen count by half to nearly 8,400.

Amazon focuses on voice-control devicesSAN FRANCISCO — Amazon.com is introducing two devices designed to amplify the role its voice-controlled assistant Alexa plays in people’s homes and lives.The products unveiled Thursday are echoes of Amazon’s Echo, a cylinder-shaped speaker with Internet-connected microphones that became Alexa’s first major showcase when it debuted in late 2014.Set these gadgets up and they’ll listen for your voice and respond to commands — for instance, to read the morning’s headlines.Amazon hopes to outmaneuver rivals Google and Apple in their battle to build hubs in “smart” homes that are being furnished with appliances, electronics and other accouterments that connect to the Internet.