The company's purpose is to acquire, manage and dispose of participations of all kinds in companies in Switzerland and abroad. It may establish branches in Switzerland and abroad, participate in other companies in Switzerland and abroad, acquire or merge with similar or related companies, and enter into any business and conclude any contracts that are suitable to promote the purpose of the company or are directly or indirectly related to it. It may acquire, manage, encumber and dispose of real estate, copyrights, patents and licenses of all kinds. The company may provide 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 such parties are directly or indirectly involved, whether by means of loans or other financing, including within the framework of cash pooling agreements, and may provide security of any kind for their liabilities, including by means of pledges on or fiduciary transfers of the company's assets or by means of guarantees of any kind, whether against payment or not.