June 1 (Reuters) - Honeywell's Quantinuum is targeting a valuation of up to $14.3 billion in its upsized U.S. initial public offering, it said on Monday, underscoring robust investor appetite around quantum computing.
The Broomfield, Colorado-based company is now seeking up to $1.46 billion by marketing 26.5 million shares priced between $53 and $55 apiece.
It had earlier aimed to raise up to $1.05 billion by offering about 21.1 million shares priced between $45 and $50 apiece.
Quantum computing has drawn growing interest after recent breakthroughs underscored its potential to speed up tasks from drug discovery to financial modeling and cryptography.
Quantum computers are capable of solving complex problems faster than classical computers. But major technical challenges remain, including high error rates that limit practical performance.
"The upsize suggests institutional demand is strong and that investors view Quantinuum as a scarce strategic asset. But at this valuation, the stock needs to price in years of successful execution before the revenue can catch up," IPOX Research Associate Lukas Muehlbauer said.
"It is sensible for the company to take advantage of a receptive IPO window while investor enthusiasm for quantum remains high."
Quantinuum's revised IPO terms comes on the heels of the U.S. government unveiling plans last month to take $2 billion in equity stakes across nine quantum-computing companies. Quantinuum will receive $100 million in funding.
The company was formed in 2021 by combining Honeywell's quantum computing division and Cambridge Quantum. While it is in early stages of commercial growth, bookings have accelerated in recent months as the emerging technology gains traction.
"Quantinuum is differentiated from many quantum companies that went public via SPACs through the operating history from its Honeywell lineage, substantial R&D investment, and around 700 employees, which differentiates it from earlier-stage peers," Muehlbauer said.
Honeywell will own about 48.1% of the combined voting power in the company upon completion of the offering, Quantinuum said in a regulatory filing.
J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley are joint lead active book-running managers. Quantinuum is expected to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol "QNT" on Thursday.
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
