By Mackenzie Tatananni

Two rising stars in quantum computing are charting vastly different courses to the public trading floor. Investors soon will have a chance to buy in.

IQM, a Finnish start-up, moved one step closer to its U.S. stock market debut on Thursday as it filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The filing, known as a Form F-4, allows non-U.S. companies to register securities specifically for use in business combinations. IQM earlier this year announced its intention to merge with a blank-check company, Real Asset Acquisition Corp. (ticker: RAAQ), in the latest example of the special-purpose acquisition company , or SPAC, merger craze that has taken the industry by storm.

The filing outlines a scenario where RAAQ shareholders receive one IQM American depositary receipt for every share held. The deal is bolstered by an additional $134 million in financing from private institutional investors, while outstanding warrants will carry over to IQM with an exercise price of $11.50.

The transaction values IQM at a pre-money equity valuation of roughly $1.8 billion, the company said. IQM develops what's referred to as a "full stack" -- quantum hardware, software, and applications. The company has sold 23 systems to date.

So far this year, all three quantum companies that have gone public -- Infleqtion, Horizon Quantum, and Xanadu Quantum Technologies -- have done so through a process known as a de-SPAC, where a private company merges with an already publicly traded shell company.

It's a well-worn path in the quantum sector. Pure plays like IonQ, D-Wave Quantum, and Rigetti Computing have used the same vehicle in years past.

However, one player is bucking the trend. Quantinuum, the company majority-owned by Honeywell International, filed its own registration statement with the SEC last Friday in anticipation of its coming initial public offering.

Quantinuum was founded in 2021 through the merger of Honeywell Quantum Solutions and Cambridge Quantum, a U.K.-based start-up. While it may be one of the newer entrants in the space, the company has racked up a roster of customers including JPMorgan Chase, Amgen, and SoftBank.

Barron's reported last year that Honeywell was aiming to take Quantinuum public sometime between 2026 and 2027, market conditions permitting.

While the de-SPAC route provides a faster path to the public market -- an attractive shortcut for companies seeking a fresh injection of capital -- an initial public offering is a viable option for players like Quantinuum that have the backing of a parent with deep pockets.

The Form S-1 filed with the SEC signals that the offering is moving ahead as planned. Quantinuum didn't disclose share count or pricing details, though it indicated its Class A stock would be listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker "QNT."

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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May 14, 2026 16:18 ET (20:18 GMT)

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