IQM, a quantum computing business headquartered in Finland, said Monday it will pursue a public listing on the New York Stock Exchange by merging with special purpose acquisition company Real Asset Acquisition Corp. The agreement assigns IQM an initial equity valuation of $1.8 billion, subject to shareholder approval and the satisfaction of customary regulatory conditions.
The firm expects the merger to reach completion around June of this year, with the stock market listing to occur shortly after the closing. IQM is also evaluating the prospect of a dual listing that would include the Helsinki stock exchange.
Founded in 2018, IQM completed a Series B financing round in September that raised $320 million and placed the company at a $1 billion valuation at that time. The Series B was led by Ten Eleven Ventures, an investment firm focused on cybersecurity, and included participation from Finnish state-backed venture capital investor Tesi.
IQM develops full-stack, open-architecture quantum systems designed for deployment either on-premise or through cloud access. The technology and product positioning remain unchanged in the announcement; the transaction structure is intended to provide public market access and additional capital.
As structured, the merger could deliver more than $300 million in funding to IQM. That amount would come from a combination of private investment in public equity financing and the cash held in Real Asset Acquisition Corp.'s trust account, assuming no redemptions by SPAC investors prior to the listing.
The planned transaction remains conditional on several approvals. Shareholder consent for the deal and the clearance of other regulatory requirements are necessary before the merger can close and the NYSE listing can proceed.
Context for markets
The move would make IQM one of the earlier European entrants in publicly traded quantum computing, bringing private capital into the public market and potentially affecting investor access to the sector. The deal also links venture capital investors and public market structures through a SPAC pathway.