The company's purpose is to acquire, sell, hold and manage participations of all kinds and real estate in Switzerland and abroad, as well as to provide related services. The company may establish subsidiaries and branches in Switzerland and abroad and participate in other companies in Switzerland and abroad. The company may also engage in all commercial, financial and other activities that are directly or indirectly related to the company's purpose. The company may acquire, hold, manage, use, encumber, sell, dispose of, sublicense, evaluate or have evaluated intellectual property rights, industrial property rights or license rights. The company may provide direct or indirect financing to third parties or companies in which it is directly or indirectly involved, as well as to direct or indirect shareholders or companies in which such shareholders are directly or indirectly involved, by means of loans and/or other financing, including within the framework of cash pooling agreements. The company may grant securities of any kind for its own liabilities or the liabilities of the aforementioned persons, including by means of pledges, assignments, fiduciary transfers, guarantees of any kind or by means of offset obligations, whether against payment or not, even if such financing, securities or guarantees are in the exclusive interest of third parties or companies in which it is directly or indirectly involved, or of direct or indirect shareholders or companies in which such shareholders are directly or indirectly involved.