IonQ to be a listed company through a SPAC merger vehicle

IonQ - a company developing a trapped ion quantum computing framework - has announced it is going to be a listed public company trading in the stock market.

This listing will be made through a SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company), and the aqcquisition company (dMY Technology Group, Inc. III (NYSE: DMYI.U) ) will then merge with it forming a listed combined stock issue. As stated on the press release from this annoucement at its website:

Upon closing of the transaction, IonQ shares will trade on the NYSE under the symbol “IONQ” as the first publicly traded pure-play hardware and software company in the quantum computing space.

Link: IonQ To Become The First Publicly Traded Pure-Play Quantum Computing Company.

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“This transaction advances IonQ’s mission, to solve critical problems that impact nearly every aspect of society,” said Peter Chapman, CEO & President of IonQ. “With our key strategic partners, such as Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation, we look forward to leveraging the power of quantum computing in the fight against climate change and to solve vexing problems from materials design to logistics that impact the transportation industry.”

Link: IonQ To Become The First Publicly Traded Pure-Play Quantum Computing Company.

These types of mergers transactions and public markets deals are a new way for start-ups, or most probably scale-ups such as IonQ, to get wider stock market access, and being relatively accessible to retail investors. It is a democratization example of capital markets access, but it is not without its risks. Investors should be prepared for many months or even years of zero free-cash flows from these deals or even to lose a sizable portion of their investment in case of no business had been up and running at the end of the agreed contract funding period.