By Arasu Kannagi Basil and Ateev Bhandari (Reuters) -Xanadu Quantum Technologies will go public on the Nasdaq through a merger with blank-check firm Crane Harbor Acquisition Corp in a $3.6 billion deal, the companies said on Monday. The Canadian quantum computing firm expects the SPAC deal to fetch nearly $500 million, including a $275 million private […]
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Canadian quantum computing firm Xanadu to list on Nasdaq via $3.6 billion SPAC deal
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By Arasu Kannagi Basil and Ateev Bhandari
(Reuters) -Xanadu Quantum Technologies will go public on the Nasdaq through a merger with blank-check firm Crane Harbor Acquisition Corp in a $3.6 billion deal, the companies said on Monday.
The Canadian quantum computing firm expects the SPAC deal to fetch nearly $500 million, including a $275 million private investment in public equity.
Quantum computers are widely regarded to have the potential to solve problems beyond the capability of classical computers.
The technology has progressed from theoretical promise and fundamental challenges to practical commercial roadmaps this year, with heightened focus from tech giants like IBM, Microsoft, and Google, which announced a breakthrough algorithm last month.
U.S. banking giant JPMorgan Chase in October also outlined quantum computing as part of a broader $1.5 trillion initiative.
A slew of quantum computing companies have sought to go public through SPAC mergers in recent years, sidestepping a lengthy IPO process to list their shares.
In September, quantum computing startup Infleqtion agreed to go public through a $1.8 billon SPAC deal with a blank-check company led by veteran Wall Street dealmaker Michael Klein.
“The SPAC route provides a large, single-tranche capital infusion, extending the company’s R&D runway and ensuring survival in a market where venture appetite for capital-intensive quantum projects has cooled,” said Kat Liu, vice president at IPO research firm, IPOX.
Qubits – the building blocks of quantum computing – can compute in minutes the reactions of trillions of atoms or cells over time, making them invaluable for medicinal and materials science breakthroughs. Classic supercomputers, however, are estimated to take thousands of years for similar tasks.
However, qubits are prone to errors that can quickly overwhelm the useful computing work of a quantum chip, prompting debates in the upper echelons of the tech industry on their feasibility.
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil and Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo and Shailesh Kuber)