Freshfields is advising Honeywell on the combination of Honeywell Quantum Solutions (HQS) and Cambridge Quantum Computing (CQC). Honeywell will own a majority stake in the new company.

The new company will be a standalone quantum computing company offering 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.

More details about the transaction can be found here. The Freshfields corporate team is led by partner Andrea Basham and includes counsel Piusha Bose and associates Lucy Lei and Sarah Healy, with support from associates Maxim Neumann, Nicola Wilson and Anne Powderly. Partners Claude Stansbury and May Smith are advising on tax matters, with support from senior associates David Mitchell and Chris Gotch; partners Lori Goodman and Andrew Murphy are advising on benefits matters, with support from associates Jordan Salzman, Bethan Chalmers and Chantelle Nicholas; partners Mena Kaplan and Giles Pratt are advising on intellectual property and privacy matters, with support from associates Marissa Yu, Zofia Aszendorf and Danny Spencer; partners Aimen Mir, Michele Davis and Mary Lehner are advising on CFIUS, foreign investment review, and antitrust matters, with support from special counsel Christine Laciak, CFIUS Advisor Colin Costello, and associates Richard Flanagan, Elizabeth Suarez, and Bola Ajayi. Partners Olivia Radin and Nabeel Yousef and counsel Stephanie Brown Cripps advised on sanctions, export controls, anticorruption and compliance matters. ENDS