IonQ in talks to go public through merger with DMY SPAC

IONQ is in advanced talks to merge with DMY Technology Group Inc III, said sources, creating one of the first public quantum-computing companies.

The combined company is slated to be worth about US$2 billion and a deal is set to be announced in coming weeks, said sources. Silver Lake, MSD Partners, Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy and an affiliate of Hyundai Motor are in talks to participate in a so-called strategic private investment in public equity, or PIPE.

The SPAC is discussing raising additional equity from institutional investors and new equity raised from strategic and institutional investors is set to total around US$300 million, said a source. Existing IonQ investors are expected to roll their equity into the transaction.

As with any deal that hasn't been finalised, it's possible that terms may change or talks fall apart. Representatives for IonQ and DMY declined to comment. Spokesmen for Silver Lake and MSD Partners declined to comment and representatives of Hyundai and Breakthrough Energy Ventures didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The SPAC, led by chairman Harry You and CEO Niccolo De Masi, raised US$300 million in November and said at the time that it would pursue a target in consumer technology.

College Park, Maryland-based IonQ was founded in 2015 by Chris Monroe and Jungsang Kim and is led by CEO Peter Chapman. Its investors include Amazon Web Services, Samsung Catalyst Fund, GV (formerly known as Google Ventures), NEA, Lockheed Martin, Airbus Ventures and Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH. IonQ in October unveiled what it describes as the world's most powerful quantum computer.

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Quantum has long been touted as the next frontier in technology. Such computers would be capable of simulating and understanding phenomena in the natural world instantly and providing the basis for systems that are unhackable. Intel and Microsoft, among other companies, are also working to advance quantum computing. The technology has potential implications for producing new materials or creating new drugs, for example. BLOOMBERG