Honeywell Quantum Solutions And Cambridge Quantum Computing Will Combine; Read IQT Research Statement
(PRNewsWire) Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) announced today that Honeywell Quantum Solutions (HQS) and Cambridge Quantum Computing (CQC), two world-leading quantum computing and quantum technology businesses, will combine to form the largest, most advanced standalone quantum computing company in the world, setting the pace for what is projected to become a $1 trillion quantum computing industry over the next three decades.
IQT Research says: This announcement creates a “conglomerate” of sorts that plays in several different quantum markets, not just computing. It validates our belief that the emerging quantum industry is bigger than just computing and also potentially offers customers both the power of quantum computing and the power to protect data against quantum-hacked data.
The new venture, which currently lacks a name, is the kind of new firm made up of merging smaller firms that we saw emerge in the telecommunications business in the 1980s and which ultimately have come to dominate the telecom industry.
We think that the joint venture will also give both Honeywell and CQC new direction at a time when both would seem to need it. Many questions remain, especially how IBM, CQC’s pattern, will play into this. Honeywell has utilized the Microsoft quantum cloud product; will it now switch to IBM’s quantum network?
And finally, how will the new company ultimately evolve. Honeywell will obviously hold the power financially. But Ilyas Khan, the impressive CEO and founder of CQC who will be the CEO of the new venture.
Resuming Honeywell/CQC Announcement: The new company will offer the world’s highest performing quantum computer and a full suite of quantum software, including the first and most advanced quantum operating system. These technologies will support customer needs for improved computation in diverse areas including cyber security, drug discovery and delivery, material science, finance, and optimization across all major industrial markets. The company will also focus on the advancement of natural language processing to fully leverage the possibilities of quantum artificial intelligence.
Quantum computing will remain a key breakthrough initiative for Honeywell. After the transaction is complete, Honeywell will own a majority stake in the new company, with commensurate governance rights. In addition, Honeywell will invest between $270 million and $300 million in the new company and will have a long-term agreement to help manufacture the critical ion traps needed to power the quantum hardware. Honeywell’s businesses will continue to serve as a proving ground for the new company’s quantum offerings.
The combination is expected to be complete in the third quarter of 2021, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Honeywell Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Darius Adamczyk will serve as chairman of the new company. The new company will be led by Ilyas Khan, the CEO and founder of CQC. Tony Uttley, currently the president of HQS, will serve as the new company’s president.
“Since we first announced Honeywell’s quantum business in 2018, we have heard from many investors who have been eager to invest directly in our leading technologies at the forefront of this exciting and dynamic industry – now, they will be able to do so,” Adamczyk said. “The new company will provide the best avenue for us to onboard new, diverse sources of capital at scale that will help drive rapid growth.”
Adamczyk continued, “The new company will have the best talent in the industry, the world’s highest-performing quantum computer, the first and most advanced quantum operating system, and comprehensive, hardware-agnostic software that will drive the future of the quantum computing industry. The new company will be extremely well positioned to create value in the near-term within the quantum computing industry by offering the critical global infrastructure needed to support the sector’s explosive growth.”
“Joining together into an exciting newly combined enterprise, HQS and CQC will become a global powerhouse that will develop and commercialize quantum solutions that address some of humanity’s greatest challenges, while driving the development of what will become a $1 trillion industry,” Khan said. “I am excited to lead a company that has the best people and technologies in the quantum computing industry and the best and boldest clients. Together we will lead the industry as it grows and matures, and create tangible, credible, provable and science-led advances.”
Honeywell’s trapped ion-based quantum computing hardware recently achieved a quantum volume of 512, the highest measured on a commercial quantum computer to date, with further advances in progress. CQC is the global leader in software, cyber security and algorithms that help optimize quantum computing hardware. CQC’s software business will remain hardware agnostic and will continue to be fully compatible with all global quantum hardware providers. Honeywell has been an investor in and commercial partner with CQC since 2019.
Over the last decade, Honeywell has incubated its quantum business from the idea stage to commercial launch. Today, HQS employs some of the world’s leading experts in quantum computing and provides customers from some of the world’s largest organizations with access to the highest-performing quantum computers. Honeywell’s cross-disciplinary team of more than 160 scientists, engineers, and software developers – dedicated to advancing quantum volume and addressing real enterprise problems across industries – will join the new company. The combined company will have a staff of over 300, more than 100 of whom hold doctorates and over 200 of whom are scientists that include some of the world’s leading quantum computing experts.
