Shearman & Sterling represented Visa Inc. in its acquisition of 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, in a transaction valued at approximately $190 million, plus additional consideration for performance milestones. The acquisition is expected to be completed in Visa's fiscal second quarter 2011, pending satisfaction of customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals.

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.

The Shearman & Sterling team was led by partner Steve Camahort (San Francisco-Mergers & Acquisitions), counsel Dana Kromm (San Francisco-Mergers & Acquisitions) and associate Christine Huang (San Francisco-Mergers & Acquisitions). Other attorneys on this transaction include partners Larry Crouch (Menlo Park-Tax), Tina Patel (Menlo Park-Intellectual Property Transactions), Doreen Lilienfeld (New York-Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits), and Patrick Robbins (San Francisco–Litigation) and associates Dan Stellenberg (Menlo Park-Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits), Sean McGrath (New York-Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits), Zheng Bao (Menlo Park-Intellectual Property Transactions), Michael Jokic (New York-Intellectual Property Transactions), Nathan Tasso (Washington, DC-Tax), Mikael Abye (San Francisco–Litigation), and Jared Sams (San Francisco–Litigation).