Discovery buys majority of OWN, Amazon launches in Australia, Cineworld buys Regal

Here’s a look at some of the companies the Yahoo Finance team will be watching for you today.

Discovery (DISCA) is now the majority owner of the Oprah Winfrey Network. Discovery paid $70M, which now owns an additional 24.5% stake in the network. Oprah will remain the CEO. With a majority stake, Discovery expects to have more bargaining power with cable operators, and grow its viewership among African-Americans

Amazon (AMZN) is going down under. The e-commerce giant’s Australian branch took its first orders today. Other retailers rallied on the news after analysts said offerings were “patchy,” and because Amazon wasn’t offering the cheapest prices, at least not yet.

U.K.’s Cineworld agreed to buy Regal Cinemas (RGC) for about $3.6 billion. The deal creates a company with over 9,000 screens, overtaking industry leader AMC.

Mastercard’s (MA) board approved a new $4B share buyback plan to take effect after its current $4B buyback is completed. Mastercard also hiked its quarterly shareholder dividend by 14% to 25 cents.