SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) today announced an agreement to acquire PlaySpan Inc., a privately held company whose payments platform handles transactions for digital goods in online games, digital media and social networks around the world. The acquisition of PlaySpan complements Visa’s 2010 CyberSource acquisition and extends the company’s capabilities into one of the fastest-growing segments of eCommerce – digital and mobile commerce.
PlaySpan provides a Monetization-as-a-Service™ platform that allows merchants to monetize their content using a broad suite of payment and commerce-related solutions in fraud and risk management, analytics, merchandizing and global payment connectivity. Merchants use PlaySpan’s technology to enable their consumers to make safe and convenient purchases online for items such as game credits, premium memberships and digital goods.
Last year, global eCommerce sales reached an estimated $948 billion1 and they remain a significant growth opportunity for Visa. Approximately 45 percent2 of U.S. online spend takes place on Visa’s network today. For Visa’s fiscal first quarter 2011, the company reported 25 percent year-over-year growth in eCommerce payment volumes globally.
Within the eCommerce category, PlaySpan is a leader in the relatively new segment of digital goods, which generated an estimated $25 billion in consumer spending globally in 2010, a figure expected to reach $280 billion by 20143.
Visa will pay approximately $190 million in cash, plus additional consideration for performance milestones. PlaySpan is based in Santa Clara, California. The acquisition is expected to be completed in Visa's fiscal second quarter 2011, pending satisfaction of customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals. The acquisition is expected to be slightly dilutive to Visa’s earnings per share in its fiscal year 2011 ending September 30, 2011.
PlaySpan is backed by top-tier venture funds including Easton Capital, Menlo Ventures, Novel TMT Ventures, STIC Investments, Silicon Valley Bank Capital, Softbank China & India, TimeWarner Investments, Vodafone Ventures and GE Asset Management.
About Visa
Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of the world’s most advanced processing networks—VisaNet—that is capable of handling more than 20,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.
About PlaySpan
PlaySpan is the trusted partner in global monetization solutions for leading publishers and developers of digital media, online games, mobile apps and social networks. Its patent-pending in-game digital goods commerce and Monetization-as-a-Service (MaaS)™ platform enables publishers and developers to generate new revenues, acquire new users, and extend the loyalty of existing users.
It provides a global payments solution through its UltimatePay product, which enables users to make safe, convenient and friendly in-app purchases using over 85 global payment methods in 180 countries. UltimatePay includes PlaySpan's Ultimate Game Card®, the #1 selling multi-game prepaid card, available in more than 50,000 retail locations across North America and a growing list of countries worldwide.
PlaySpan is headquartered in Silicon Valley, with offices in Ohio, Virginia, and Mumbai. Investors include Easton Capital, Menlo Ventures, Novel TMT Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank Capital, STIC, Softbank, Vodafone and GE Asset Management. The company has won over 13 awards during the past three years. It was honored as one of the 2010 OnMedia Top 100 and AlwaysOn Global 250, its CEO won the 2010 E&Y Entrepreneur of Year Award for Northern California, and it was named to Business Insider’s Digital 100 for 2010.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by the term “expected” and similar references to the future. Examples of such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the timing of the completion of the acquisition and its prospective dilutive effect on Visa’s earnings per share. By their nature, forward-looking statements: (i) speak only as of the date they are made, (ii) are neither statements of historical fact nor guarantees of future performance and (iii) are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict or quantify. Therefore, actual results could differ materially and adversely from those forward-looking statements because of a variety of factors, including the pace of regulatory approval, the risk that the new business will not be successfully integrated with Visa's, the costs associated with the acquisition, slowed growth of eCommerce and the other factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. You should not place undue reliance on such statements. Unless required to do so by law, we do not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statement because of new information or future developments or otherwise.
1 JP Morgan Chase Research; Electronic Banking Options, Mobile Payment Forecast 2010 - 2014, August 10, 2010
2 comScore Q4 2010 data
3 PwC Global entertainment and media outlooks 2010-2014; Forrester Research Forecast