Supernova Partners II (SNII) Pre-Announces Rigetti Deal Approval

Supernova Partners Acquisition Company II (NYSE:SNII) announced this morning that it expects to gain approval of its combination with quantum computing firm Rigetti with sufficient cash to close the deal on March 2.

The SPAC passed its redemption deadline yesterday and as a result it now expects to deliver $114.24 million from its trust supplemented by a $147.5 million PIPE, which is plenty to satisfy the transaction’s $165 million minimum cash condition. This amounts to about 67% of shares redeemed, which may not have looked great in earlier times, but it would be the third lowest redemption rate among the 21 SPACs that have held votes so far in 2022.

Supernova II shareholders are expected to approve the transaction’s final vote on Monday, February 28, and the combined company is expected to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol “RGTI”.

The parties initially announced their $1.15 billion combination on October 6. Berkeley, California-based Rigetti Computing has developed scalable quantum computing chips and is working to deploy its machines in collaboration with several government and research institutions.

For Supernova II, these relatively low redemptions would come despite opening at $8 and closing at $9.05 on the day of its redemption deadline. This is perhaps a testament to the high performance of transactions in the quantum computing space. Its peer IONQ (NYSE:IONQ) continues to trade well since completing its combination with dMY III in October and closed Thursday at $15.60. DPCM (NYSE:XPOA), which has a pending combination with D-Wave, meanwhile last closed at $9.88.

ADVISORS

• Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Rigetti.
• Cooley LLP is serving as legal counsel to Rigetti.
• Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Supernova II.
• Latham & Watkins LLP is serving as legal counsel to Supernova II.
• Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. served as placement agents to Supernova II for the PIPE financing.
• Sidley Austin LLP served as counsel to the placement agents.