CONSUMERS

Lumber Liquidators flooring at low risk to cause cancer

Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. flooring, tested by US regulators after an outcry over formaldehyde, was found to have a low risk of causing cancer, though it could potentially trigger irritation and breathing problems. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission tested the health impact of formaldehyde released into indoor air from Lumber Liquidators’s laminate flooring, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The products — the subject of a “60 Minutes’’ investigation last year — were produced in China between 2012 and 2014. The company’s stock rose as much as 7.8 percent to $13.03 after the report was released. It had plummeted more than 70 percent since the March airing of the “60 Minutes’’ story, which alleged that Lumber Liquidators flooring had potentially dangerous levels of formaldehyde. — BLOOMBERG

PHARMACEUTICAL

Mylan to buy Swedish company for $7.2 billion

Drug maker Mylan says it will buy Meda AB of Sweden for $7.2 billion, and says the move will help it enter new markets. Mylan valued the deal at $9.9 billion including Meda’s debt. It says Meda’s board and largest shareholders support the sale. About 60 percent of Meda’s sales come from prescription drugs. Key products include drugs that treat respiratory conditions, skin ailments, and pain and inflammation. It had 15 billion Swedish krona ($1.8 billion) in sales in 2014. In 2015 Mylan tried and failed to buy Perrigo, an Irish company that makes medicines, vitamins, nutritional products, and infant formula. Mylan itself, which is based in the Netherlands, fended off a takeover bid from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. Mylan stock fell 7 percent to $46.98 in aftermarket trading. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

BEER

Japanese company to buy European beer brands

Asahi Group Holdings of Japan has made a binding offer to buy the beer brands Peroni and Grolsch, as well as certain European operations of SABMiller, for 2.55 billion euros ($2.9 billion). The deal, if consummated, would be the latest effort by Anheuser-Busch InBev to sell some parts of SABMiller as it seeks to persuade regulators to approve their nearly $103 billion merger. SABMiller said Wednesday that the binding offer would apply to the brands and operations of Royal Dutch Grolsch, Birra Peroni, Miller Brands UK, the Meantime Brewing Co., and SABMiller’s sales and marketing office in France. SABMiller bought Meantime in May. The deal would not include the rights for the Peroni and Grolsch brands in the United States; those rights belong to MillerCoors. — NEW YORK TIMES

AUTOMOBILES

Volkswagen and Audi recall 850,000 vehicles over air bags

Volkswagen and Audi say they are recalling 850,000 vehicles with suspect air bag inflators in the United States. Volkswagen says it has notified the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the upcoming action involving VW vehicles from model years 2006 to 2014. The automaker said in a statement Wednesday that it had been notified by the agency that some drivers’ side air-bag inflators made by Takata Corp. of Japan could be defective. About 50 million cars worldwide, including 24 million in the United States, have been recalled to replace the inflators, which can explode with too much force and shoot metal fragments into vehicle occupants. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

ENTERTAINMENT

Time Warner earnings up, but lack of blockbuster movies hurts

Time Warner reported better-than-expected earnings in its fourth quarter, but a shortage of blockbusters at the box office pushed revenue lower. Shares of the media company fell to their lowest point in more than two years Wednesday. The New York company said that last year’s ‘‘Mad Max: Fury Road’’ (left) and ‘‘Creed’’ were no match for 2014’s ‘‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,’’ ‘’Interstellar,’’ and ‘‘Annabelle.’’ As a result, revenue at its Warner Bros. studio unit fell 13 percent in the three months that ended Dec. 31. At HBO and Cinemax, revenue rose 6 percent in the quarter as more people subscribed to the cable channels or streaming service HBO Now. Revenue at Turner, which includes news network CNN and TV channel TBS, rose 2 percent on higher advertising sales. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

RETAIL

Burberry accuses JC Penney of using its signature plaid design

Burberry Group PLC sued J.C. Penney Co., contending that the US retailer has been using the British luxury-goods maker’s signature plaid design on a range of coats, jackets, and scarves. The suit, filed in a New York federal court Tuesday, alleges that J.C. Penney is selling a wide variety of products, including handbags and luggage, featuring the check design, which dates back to the 1920s. Burberry, which is based in London, is seeking a court order blocking the sale of the products and damages of as much as $2 million for each trademark it claims J.C. Penney infringed. — BLOOMBERG

FAST FOOD

Burger King adds hot dogs to its menu

Burger King is preparing to add hot dogs to the menu at its US restaurants. It’s the most significant menu expansion for the second-biggest US burger chain since it added a chicken sandwich in the 1970s, said Alex Macedo, the company’s North American president. The hot dogs will come in two varieties: classic, served with mustard, ketchup, relish, and onions; and chili- cheese. The rollout comes as industry leader McDonald’s is recovering from its worst slump in more than a decade, adding urgency to the battle for fast-food customers. Burger King spent more than a year preparing to release hot dogs at its roughly 7,150 US locations on Feb. 23, testing the product in five markets. — BLOOMBERG

HOUSING

Prices rise in more than 80 percent of metro areas

Home prices rose in 81 percent of metropolitan areas in the fourth quarter, with the pace of gains accelerating even as sales slowed from earlier in the year, the National Association of Realtors said. The national median single-family home price was $222,700 in the fourth quarter, up 6.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the report. The most expensive markets in the fourth quarter were all in the West, led by San Jose, Calif., with a median of $940,000. Among the cheapest: Youngstown, Ohio, with a median of $81,200. — BLOOMBERG