The company's purpose is to make investments and to hold, manage, acquire and dispose of participations of all kinds, as well as to provide telecommunications and financial services, and to trade in goods of all kinds, including patents, trademarks and licenses. Furthermore, the company's purpose is to carry out construction activities of all kinds. The company may establish branches and subsidiaries in Switzerland and abroad and participate in other companies in Switzerland and abroad, as well as conduct all business that is directly or indirectly related to its purpose. The company may acquire, encumber, sell and manage real estate in Switzerland and abroad, except for transactions prohibited by the Federal Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Persons Abroad (BewG). In particular, the company may grant direct or indirect loans or other financing to its direct or indirect subsidiaries, as well as its direct or indirect parent companies and their direct or indirect subsidiaries, and to third parties, and provide security of all kinds for the liabilities of such other companies, including by way of pledges or fiduciary transfers of the company's assets or by way of guarantees of any kind, whether paid or unpaid.