The purpose of the company includes management services as well as the assumption of consulting mandates. The company may also 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, acquire, manage, and dispose of intellectual property rights such as patents and licenses, assume representations, and engage in 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, except for transactions prohibited by the Federal Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Persons Abroad (BewG). 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 company's profit motive, and/or by assuming clustering risks.