The company's purpose is to acquire, hold, sell, manage, direct and finance companies of any kind in Switzerland and abroad. The company may establish subsidiaries and branches in Switzerland and abroad and participate in other companies in Switzerland and abroad. The company may acquire, hold, license and sell operating properties and intellectual property rights. Furthermore, the company may provide direct or indirect financing to its direct or indirect parent, sister and subsidiary companies as well as to third parties, including its direct or indirect shareholders and their direct or indirect subsidiaries, and provide collateral of any kind for its own liabilities and those of other companies (including its direct or indirect parent, sister and subsidiary companies as well as third parties, including its direct or indirect shareholders and their direct or indirect subsidiaries), including by way of pledges or fiduciary transfers of the company's assets or guarantees of any kind, whether paid or unpaid. In addition, it may engage in liquidity balancing/concentration of net liquidity (cash pooling) with the aforementioned companies or join such an arrangement, including periodic account balancing (zero balancing). This also applies to preferential conditions without interest, excluding the company's profit motive and assuming bulk risks.