The purpose of the company is to acquire, hold, manage, finance and sell participations in other companies in Switzerland or abroad. The company may establish branches and subsidiaries in Switzerland and abroad, participate in other companies, acquire, manage and dispose of intellectual property rights such as patents and licenses, assume representations and carry out any business activity and conclude contracts of any kind that may be conducive to the company's purpose or that are directly or indirectly related to the company's purpose. The company may acquire, hold, manage, encumber and sell real estate in Switzerland and abroad, with the exception of transactions prohibited by the Federal Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Persons Abroad (BewG). The company is part of a group and may take into account the interests of the group in pursuing its corporate purpose. In particular, the company may grant loans and other direct or indirect financings to its direct and indirect subsidiaries and to third parties, including its direct and indirect shareholders and their direct and indirect subsidiaries, within the framework of cash pooling agreements (including zero balancing), and provide securities of any kind for the liabilities of these parties, including by way of pledges on or fiduciary transfers of the company's assets or guarantees of any kind. This may also be done without consideration, on preferential terms, without interest, excluding the profit motive of the company and/or assuming clustering risks.