IQM, a manufacturer of quantum computers, goes public: trading in the stock starts this week

The company says it has submitted a listing application to the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Trading in the shares is expected to begin on Friday, July 3.

Trading in IQM’s shares will probably start on Nasdaq in the USA on Thursday, July 2 at 16:30 Finnish time.

Trading starts on both exchanges with the symbol IQMX.

In February, IQM already signed a merger agreement with Nasdaq-listed spac shell company Real Asset Acquisition Corp (RAAQ). By merging with it, IQM will become a publicly listed company.

Spac company refers to a company listed on the stock exchange, which does not have a business and which has collected funding from investors in order to make a company acquisition. The listing process made through the merger with the Spac company is fundamentally lighter than a regular stock exchange listing

RAAQ held an extraordinary general meeting last week, where the transaction was approved. The US securities regulator SEC has also approved the company’s documents.

In the merger, IQM’s market value before new capital has been defined as around 1.8 billion dollars. After the merger, the total value will be approximately $1.9 billion.

Arrangement cash reserves of up to 406 million euros, or about 477 million dollars, are included. About 146 million dollars of that is so-called pipe financing, i.e. investments made in the company by investors such as pension insurer Ilmarinen. Some are investors’ funds that were in the RAAQ shell company.

IQM’s turnover last year was 31.3 million euros. The company has more than 400 employees.

The company has sold 23 quantum computers to customers so far. It says its order backlog at the end of last year was more than 67 million euros.

Even after the listing, IQM’s head office will remain in Finland.

State The private equity company Teollisuussijoitus (Tesi) and the pension companies Varma and Elo are major owners of IQM. They remain shareholders even after the listing.

The Finnish government has invested in the development of the industry by, among other things, financing IQM’s product development in the role of both a customer and an investor. The most important customers are research organizations such as VTT and the University of Munich.

It also has its own production facility in Espoo, where it manufactures the chips needed in quantum computers and assembles the equipment until it is ready.

IQM is the first European quantum computing company to be listed on the US stock exchange.

Founded in 2018, IQM has quickly become the flagship of the European quantum industry.