IonQ Buys UK Quantum Computing Startup in $1 Billion Deal (1)

US quantum computing company IonQ has agreed to buy UK startup Oxford Ionics in a $1.08 billion deal that highlights increasing commercial confidence in what has largely been an experimental field of computing.

The takeover, which consists of roughly $1.07 billion in shares of IonQ and about $10 million in cash, will bring together Maryland-based IonQ’s quantum hardware and software capabilities with Oxford Ionics’ quantum chip technology, the companies said in a statement on Monday. The transaction is expected to close in 2025, subject to regulatory approvals.

Quantum computers, which encode data in units called qubits, take advantage of subatomic ...