(Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, Dave Dugdale)

A Chinese company has set its sights on one of the priciest foreign acquisitions by a private Chinese company to date— a deal seen as a way for them to get closer to the movie industry.

Dalian Wanda Group- a private Chinese company- has announced it would pay $2.6 billion to purchase AMC Entertainment- the second largest movie theater chain in the America with 346 theaters and more than 5,000 screens in the U.S. and Canada. The Dalian Wanda Group already operates 86 theaters, 730 screens in China.

Some may find it puzzling why a Chinese company would want to take over the movie-theater-mogul.  For one, American movie theater profits have plateaued as audience numbers have dwindled over the past decade. China's movie theaters, on the other hand, have rocketed upwards.

The Atlantic breaks it down:

• But Dalian Wanda isn't buying itself higher profits, at least in the short run. Rather, it's buying an education. China plans to massively expand its own film industry in the coming years. But even more importantly, it would like to expand its cultural influence by becoming as good at producing and exporting entertainment as it is computers and phones. Much as the country's manufacturers evolved by co-opting technology and techniques from abroad, its movie business is apparently looking to leap forward with some aid from America.

The deal is set to close as soon as regulatory approval is received in both the U.S. and China, and if it goes through, the world's largest movie theater chain will be born. According to The State Journal-Register, there hasn't been any talk about changing the AMC brand.