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SWISS BUSINESS NEWS
SUMMER 2008
Top of the News
The European Investment Monitor published by E&Y and powered by Oxford Intelligence reports 2007 as a high water mark in FDI projects into Europe with 3,712, a 5% increase over 2006 and 95% over the low point of 2002. The UK led in receiving new projects with 713. Switzerland by comparison received 124. In terms of the origin of these projects, 944 of these (25% of the entire total) stemmed from the US. 454 additional projects had a German address. Although commenting that 2007 was a record year in many respects, the Report went on to note that storm clouds are on the horizon for this and future years.
Wins and Updates
Motion and control technologies leader Parker Hannifin Corporation, based near Cleveland, Ohio, has broken ground on its new 57,000 square foot EMEA headquarters in Etoy, Canton of Vaud, where staffing is expected to reach about 150 over the next 3 to 5 years.
Washington-
SIMtone Corporation, a privately held company with a universal platform that integrates telecom, cable and wireless services established its international headquarters in Vevey. The US company is based in Durham, North Carolina.
According to the Swiss-
Chiquita, the Cincinnati-
US company Thermo Fisher Scientific and Basel based Genedata have entered into a
long term strategic alliance to integrate Thermo’s mass spectrometry instrumentation
with Genedata’s suite of software solutions. Both companies will continue to sell
their own products but not also co-
New York based IBM and ETH Zurich have entered into a $90 million partnership in
nano-
California-
And the wave of American mergers and acquisitions of Swiss firms continues. Palo
Alto, CA based GigOptix, a leader in integrated circuits for optically connected
communications systems has bought Zurich based Helix, AG, a fab-
Reverse Investments
Schaffhausen based Georg Fischer AG has reportedly bought Alfa Plastics Inc., a plastic pipers, fittings and valves business based in Brampton, Ontario.
Basel based Novartis will acquire Protez Pharmaceuticals, a biotech firm based in Malvern, PA for a reported $400 million. Protez is known for having developed an injectable antibiotic to fight lethal drug resistant infections.
Swiss automotive components firm Rieter Holding AG is to close its manufacturing plant in St. Joseph, MI, on grounds of declining vehicle production in the US. The plant which produces aluminum heat shields, trunk and floor systems, employs 50 persons.
Fragrance and flavors leader Givaudan has announced the sale of its St. Louis, MO based food ingredient business and manufacturing facility to the Performance Chemicals & Ingredients Company (PCI) based in that Midwest city.
Sulzer, a globally active engineering corporation based in Winterthur, recently announced it was establishing facilities in Edmonton, Alberta, to augment its repair, maintenance and manufacturing network. A staff of 100 is being recruited.
Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation, based in Vancouver, BC, has reportedly entered into a share purchase agreement valued at CAD 5 million with the Roche Venture Fund.
Switzerland-
From The Foreign Desk
Barwa International, a subsidiary of Barwa Real Estate, announced the acquisition of the Hotel Schweizerhof in Bern and the Hotel Royal Savoy in Lausanne.
Japanese automotive company Nissan has announced the opening its new European headquarters Nissan International SA, in Rolle. Among the key functions carried out at the offices are general administration, marketing, sales, as well as manufacturing and supply chain management, legal and finance. Many of the employees based at the new site have moved from Nissan's former European headquarters in Trappes, France.
Terumo Europe N.V. – an affiliate of Terumo Corporation, Japan – is opening a branch office in Wettingen, Canton of Aargau. The focus of the new office will be the promotion of the company’s large range of medical products. The new Swiss location will also play a vital role in product development and clinical trials.
Thunderhead, the UK-
Also from the UK, market research agency BrainJuicer has announced that it has furthered its global expansion strategy by establishing a presence in both Australia and Switzerland.
German discount chain Lidl plans to expand in to the US and Switzerland, noting that it expects to have 80 stores in Switzerland by 2009. A US presence is expected by 2012. The company is Germany’s second largest discount retailer after Aldi.
Also from Germany GULP Information Services GmbH, an employment agency in the IT sector, has opened a subsidiary office in Zurich to strengthen its support service to its Swiss customers. GULP reports it already has more than 100 Swiss clients, doubling sales in Switzerland in 2007.
The club of Rome will relocate its headquarters from Hamburg to Winterthur. The Club,
founded in Rome 40 years ago, is a non-
Brazilian mining company Vale started the construction of its international offices at Saint Prex, as part of a $59 million investment spree until 2012. The company says it will have 140 employees in a building to cost $23 million.
AXA Private Equity, the private equity arm of the French insurer, has opened an office
in Zurich. The Paris-
French luxury and retail group PPR entered into a long-
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton signed an agreement to acquire the Hublot Group based in Nyon. The deal is expected to be in the $500 million range.
Finland’s Medifiq Healthcare is in the process of purchasing Medisize Medical, a
division of Switzerland-
Other News
This year’s Red Herring 100 Europe Awards recognized a record nine Swiss start-
Switzerland jumped two places to 4th after the U.S., Singapore and Hong Kong in the 2008 World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) published by the Institute of Management Development. The WCY is the world’s most renowned and comprehensive annual report on the competitiveness of nations, ranking and analyzing how a nation’s environment creates and sustains the competitiveness of enterprises.
Switzerland ranks 3rd after Denmark and Sweden as the most networked economy in the
world according to the 2007-
The country also ranks 3rd in Europe after Denmark and Finland as the best place in the world to conduct business over the next five years, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's latest business environment rankings. The Economist Intelligence Unit's business rankings model measures the quality and attractiveness of the business environment in the 82 countries covered by Country Forecasts using a standard analytical framework.
For the 7th consecutive year Zurich ranks first in the 2008 Mercer Human Resources Quality of Living Survey of 215 cities. Geneva ties with Vienna for 2nd place; Berne ranks No. 9.
East Asian economies -
Publicity and Promotion
Releases distributed since our last newsletter
May 13 -
June 3 – To promote the Swiss Pavilion at Bio ’08 we issued a release “220 Companies Place
Switzerland first in Biotech Density Per Capita”
June 3 – Media Advisories on the Canadian Investment Seminars Calgary and Vancouver
July 9 – Parker Hannifin Sites EMEA Headquarters in Switzerland
NEWS from Location Promotion Switzerland, Volume 11, No. 4 Summer 2008
Parker Hannifin Sites EMEA Headquarters in Switzerland
New 57,000 Square Foot Building to House Staff of up to 150
New York, July 9 – Motion and control technologies leader Parker Hannifin Corporation has broken ground on its new 57,000 square foot EMEA headquarters in Switzerland reports Mario Brossi of the foreign investment agency Location Promotion Switzerland. Staffing at the new facility in Etoy in the Canton of Vaud is expected to reach about 150 over the next 3 to 5 years, Mr. Brossi said. The site is approximately 25 miles from Geneva.
Marwan Kashkoush, Parker’s executive vice president, sales, marketing and operations support, said the new EMEA headquarters reflects the fact that company sales are now equally weighted between North American and international markets. “It will include a newly created shared services function to support sales and manufacturing operation in Europe, the Middle East and Africa covering 22 countries,” he said. He noted that employees of a new Swiss sales company and a number of senior level Parker leaders from other company locations in Europe will also operate from the new Swiss facility.
In commenting on the location Mr. Kashkoush said that Parker already has a presence
in Switzerland, which offers the important advantage of a central location and easy
access to its EMEA markets. “A stable and business-
Mr. Brossi said that Parker Hannifin joins a number of other large North American
firms with international headquarters operations in Western Switzerland. “Recent
examples include O-
Ecolab Establishes EMEA Headquarters in Switzerland
Staffing to exceed 100 by year end 2008
NEW YORK, May 13 – Ecolab Inc. the leading provider of cleaning, food safety and health protection products and services for the hospitality, foodservice, healthcare and industrial markets has established its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) headquarters in Switzerland, reports Mario Brossi of the Foreign Investment Agency Location Promotion Switzerland. The new offices in the Zurich suburb of Wallisellen will house the EMEA leadership team whose focus is to drive the strategic leadership and management of the region, Mr. Brossi added.
Ecolab EMEA President Jim White commented on the move saying, “After undergoing an
extensive evaluation process to find an ideal location, Ecolab selected the Zurich
area because of its consistent ranking as one of the best business locations in the
world, as well as the outstanding quality of life it offers our associates. These
features will help us attract and retain world-
“Other important criteria included its central location, excellent public transportation system, proximity to our regional customers and a diversity of housing options,” Mr. White said. “The presence of so many other headquarter operations in the Zurich area also served to reinforce our conviction that this is the right location for our EMEA activities.”
Ecolab, with world headquarters in St. Paul, MN, has been operating in the EMEA region
for more than 60 years and is represented in 35 countries in the region. It employs
approximately 7,000 associates throughout the EMEA region and serves diversified
market segments providing food safety, sanitation and health protection solutions
to many of the world’s best known brands. With sales of $5.5 billion and more than
14,000 sales and-
News from Location Promotion Switzerland
