The company's purpose is to acquire, hold, manage and dispose of participations in domestic and foreign companies and corporations. The company may participate in other undertakings, acquire, utilize, manage and dispose of real estate and intellectual property rights, establish subsidiaries and branches in Switzerland and abroad, and furthermore carry out all legal transactions that may be conducive to the company's purpose or that are suitable to promote its development or that of group companies. The company may grant direct or indirect financing to third parties, including companies in which it has a direct or indirect participation, its direct or indirect shareholders, and companies in which such parties have a direct or indirect participation, 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 guarantees of any kind, whether against payment or not.