Major integration of quantum computing! IonQ (IONQ.US) acquires SkyWater (SKYT.US) for $1.8 billion to create a “quantum Nvidia” model

The Zhitong Finance App learned that quantum computing company IonQ Inc (IONQ.US) has agreed to acquire chip maker SkyWater Technology (SKYT.US) in a cash plus stock deal. The deal valued SkyWater at about 1.8 billion US dollars. IonQ said in a statement Monday that it will buy the Minnesota-based company for $35 per share. Of this, $15 is cash and $20 is stock, which is a 38% premium over SkyWater's average share price over the past 30 days. Currently, the deal has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both parties, and is expected to be officially completed in the second or third quarter of 2026 after meeting customary settlement conditions such as regulatory approval and SkyWater shareholder voting.

The deal is IonQ's biggest in a series of recent acquisitions, including the $1.08 billion acquisition of British quantum computing startup Oxford Ionics last year. At the same time, this strategic acquisition marks IonQ's key step towards building the world's first full-stack vertically integrated quantum platform. By deeply integrating advanced quantum architecture design with SkyWater's mature semiconductor manufacturing capabilities, IonQ aims to close the entire process from quantum chip design and packaging to terminal production.

IonQ CEO Niccolo De Masi said in a statement that the deal enabled IonQ to use a large US chip foundry to accelerate the development of its own technology and enhance its appeal to US customers in sensitive fields such as defense.

DeMarcy said on Monday: “This integration will significantly shorten the technology iteration cycle, and it is expected that the development time for 256-qubit chips will be drastically reduced from the current 9 months to 2 months. Furthermore, this layout also enables IonQ to advance its ambitious technology roadmap ahead of schedule. The goal is to conduct functional tests of 200,000 physical qubit units in 2028, and it is expected that the R&D node for 2 million qubit chips will be realized one year ahead of schedule.”

He added that in addition to the US government, it is also expected to cooperate with Fortune 500 companies. De Marcy also said that this cooperation is in line with US President Donald Trump's goal of reviving the chip manufacturing industry in the US. Maryland-based IonQ, a quantum computing hardware and software company, is one of several companies looking to bring the technology to the mainstream.

After starting trading in New York on Monday, SkyWater's stock price rose 9% for a while. IonQ shares initially rose after the news was announced, but then fell 5.1%. As of press release, SkyWater closed up 3.29% on Monday and fell 2.17% after the market; IonQ closed down 8.21% on Monday and rose 2.37% after the market.

SkyWater claims to be the largest chip foundry in the US, in contrast to competitors headquartered in Asia or Europe. Foundry usually does not design chips, but instead manufactures them for customers. TSM.US is an industry leader, supplying chips to Nvidia (NVDA.US) and Apple (AAPL.US).

After the transaction is completed, Skywater will maintain its existing brand operations as a wholly-owned subsidiary of IonQ and continue to maintain its manufacturing sites in Minnesota, Florida, and Texas. Notably, SkyWater will maintain its independent status as a neutral chip foundry and continue to fulfill supply commitments to existing customers in the defense, aerospace, and commercial sectors.

“SkyWater has huge upward production capacity here that we can explore, not only in terms of design engineering, but also in terms of actual manufacturing,” DeMarcy said. He added: “Of course, this is a major bet on favorable trends in the US semiconductor manufacturing industry. As we re-examine our supply chain, security, and the importance of keeping everything domestic, we want to ensure safety.”

As an important partner in the US Department of Defense's microelectronics ecosystem, Skywater's merger will significantly enhance the competitive strength of the IonQ Federal division in the federal government and defense sector. Through this layout, IonQ is trying to replicate the “Nvidia model” on the quantum computing circuit and consolidate its long-term leadership position in the global quantum computing power, quantum network, and sensor fields by seizing dominance in core hardware manufacturing. This move indicates that the quantum computing industry has officially accelerated from the laboratory stage to a new stage of large-scale industrial application.

According to our understanding, quantum computers encode data in units called qubits and use peculiar characteristics at the subatomic level to generate potentially huge computational power. Despite the technology's huge potential in science, finance, and healthcare, these machines are still too expensive and are mostly used by researchers. Some politicians believe this technology is critical to national security because it has the potential to disrupt traditional computing cybersecurity systems.

According to Monday's statement, some of the shares in the deal have a price range protection mechanism (collar) to limit the impact of large fluctuations in IonQ's stock price.