Shares of British Columbia quantum-computing startup D-Wave Quantum Inc. popped nearly 16 per cent on their first day of trading Monday after merging with a special purpose acquisition company – in a market in which other freshly listed quantum companies have struggled to keep their share prices up.that it would go public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, called DPCM Capital Inc., which was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The Burnaby, B.C.
Such feats of computing require immense amounts of capital to develop, and the transaction was set to grant D-Wave access to a trust account with US$300-million – assuming that there were no redemptions by shareholders. But the company said in a recent filing with U.S. securities regulators that the SPAC’s shareholders exercised rights to redeem US$291-million worth of shares at a price of about US$10.01 a share.
In a filing, D-Wave warned that if a “significant number” of the SPAC’s investors redeemed their shares, it could become a “controlled company” under NYSE rules, with PSP controlling the majority of voting power. This could exempt D-Wave from some corporate governance requirements, such as the need for a majority of the board to be filled by independent directors.Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc.
Other quantum companies that have recently listed publicly through SPAC mergers have struggled to maintain their share prices. Shares in California’s Rigetti & Co. Inc. have fallen by about half since its deal closed in March, while those in Maryland-based IonQ Inc. have fallen by nearly 80 per cent since its high of US$35.90 last fall.