The purpose of the company is the development, production, marketing, distribution and sale of tobacco and nicotine products, including related devices, technologies and accessories, in Switzerland and abroad. The company may participate in other companies, acquire, exploit, manage and dispose of real estate and intellectual property rights, establish subsidiaries and branches in Switzerland and abroad, and perform all legal acts that may be necessary or suitable to promote the development of the company or that of group companies. The company may grant direct or indirect financing to third parties, including companies in which it is directly or indirectly involved, its direct or indirect shareholders and companies in which these shareholders are directly or indirectly involved, whether through loans or other financing, including in the context of cash pooling agreements, and provide security of any kind for their liabilities, including by way of pledges on or fiduciary transfers of the company's assets or guarantees of any kind, whether against payment or not. In pursuing its corporate purpose, the company may take into account the interests of the group companies.