IonQ buys Elisity in $1.15 bn all-stock security deal

IonQ bought Elisity, Inc. in a $1.15 billion all-stock transaction on Nov. 5, according to a company press release carried by Investing.com Australia.

An extra payout of as much as $150 million depends on Elisity hitting revenue milestones through January 2028. That earn-out equals about 13% of the closing value, according to Atlas360 calculations.

"With the acquisition complete, IonQ now brings together post-quantum cryptography, quantum key distribution, and Zero Trust security in a single platform for the organizations that depend on it most," IonQ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Niccolo de Masi said in the press release.

The deal gives IonQ a cybersecurity business that sells tools to find assets, assess network risk and enforce access policies tied to identity. Zero Trust is a security model that requires users and devices to be verified rather than automatically trusted inside a network.

Elisity will keep its current leadership, with James Winebrenner remaining chief executive officer. "Joining IonQ gives our team the resources and scale to serve customers with the same focus we’ve always had," Winebrenner said. "Our global customers depend on us to protect their networks every day."

IonQ said Elisity has carried out more than 100 enterprise deployments. Customers are to keep the same support teams, existing installations and identity rules, the press release said.

IonQ describes itself as a quantum platform and foundry company with operations across computing, networking, sensing and security. Post-quantum cryptography refers to encryption intended to withstand attacks from future quantum computers, while quantum key distribution uses quantum methods to distribute encryption keys.

The purchase broadens IonQ’s security offering beyond its existing quantum-related capabilities. Atlas360 reported in September that IonQ shares rallied 5% after a new Nvidia collaboration and that a separate Asia-Pacific partnership with SDT raised procurement questions around integrated quantum systems.

NYSE-listed IonQ shares were shown down 3.13% at $29.05 in real-time data timestamped 03:14:07 on Investing.com Australia. The source did not attribute the share move to the Elisity transaction.

The press release did not disclose Elisity’s revenue, profitability, the number of IonQ shares issued, or the revenue thresholds required for the additional payout. The next disclosed milestone is the performance period for the possible $150 million payment, which runs through January 2028.

Source: company press release carried by Investing.com Australia, Nov. 5, 2026