IonQ has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Oxford Ionics in a transaction valued at $1.075 billion—$1.065 billion in IonQ stock and $10 million in cash. The deal will unify IonQ’s trapped-ion quantum systems with Oxford Ionics’ high-fidelity ion-trap-on-a-chip technology, manufactured using standard semiconductor processes. Oxford Ionics currently holds world records in gate fidelity and quantum state preparation.
The acquisition is intended to accelerate IonQ’s roadmap toward fault-tolerant, large-scale quantum systems. The combined entity targets systems with 256 physical qubits at 99.99% fidelity by 2026, progressing to over 10,000 qubits with 99.99999% logical accuracy by 2027, and aiming for 2 million physical qubits by 2030. Oxford Ionics’ co-founders, Dr. Chris Ballance and Dr. Tom Harty, will join IonQ to continue technology development, with plans to expand the UK operation as a global R&D hub in partnership with institutions like the National Quantum Computing Centre.
Oxford Ionics’ chip-based architecture complements IonQ’s quantum application and networking stack. The integration is expected to enhance system miniaturization, manufacturability, and commercial delivery. IonQ will issue between 21.1 million and 35.2 million shares depending on market conditions, representing up to 11.5% of post-deal shares outstanding. This acquisition follows IonQ’s recent purchases of Lightsynq, Quibitekk, and the pending Capella deal, reinforcing its position in scalable quantum computing and networking infrastructure.
Read the original announcement from IonQ here. Additional reporting by Constellation Research is available here.
June 9, 2025
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