Volume 11, No. 3 Spring 2008
On the Web at www.locationswitzerland.com
Switzerland has one of the most attractive tax systems within Europe
According to a
survey of European tax systems, compiled by KPMG International, in which major
business organizations across Europe assessed the attractiveness of their
domestic tax systems, Switzerland ranks third behind Cyprus and Ireland
respectively. The survey is based on particular aspects of the tax system,
including consistency, stability over time, volume of legislation, the tax
rate, and relationships with tax authorities. The survey is compiled from more
than 400 interviews with tax professionals in multinational companies across
Europe. Regarding the tax rate and the stability in resisting frequent changes
to tax laws, Switzerland performed outstandingly: 100 percent (as opposed to 49
percent on average across Europe) of the participants called Switzerland attractive
regarding the tax rate and stability. As far as relationships with tax
authorities, 90 percent (as opposed to 60 percent on average across Europe) of
the respondents lauded Switzerland.
Wins and Updates
Internet company Yahoo! is moving its European headquarters from London to Geneva and relocate a portion of its UK staff of 700 over an 18-month period.
Three Wins for Basel
Maryland-based Sucampo Pharmaceuticals announced that its wholly-owned European subsidiary, Sucampo Pharma Europe Ltd based in Oxford, UK, has opened a branch office in Basel. The company also continues to maintain an IP Center in Canton Zug. Basel is also the location for the new EMEA headquarters of California-based DNA2.0 Inc, a gene synthesis and protein engineering company, and for Synosia Therapeutics, which has relocated its headquarters from California. Synosia develops products for unmet needs in psychiatry and neurology.
Minnesota-based Ecolab Inc., a provider of cleaning, food safety and health protection products, is establishing its EMEA headquarters in the Zurich suburb of Wallisellen. The operation is comprised of current European management staff as well as new talent totaling over 100 employees by the end of 2008.
Massachusetts-headquartered Auspice Corp, a provider of real-time operations automation and network service assurance solutions, has opened two new regional sales offices in Mexico City, Mexico, and Villars-sur-Glane, Switzerland.
Swissmetal, with over 750 employees and last year turn-over of about SFr 350 million agreed to acquire RM Precision Swiss Inc., based in Las Vegas, Nevada. RM Precision is a highly-specialized manufacturer of technical precision parts composed of copper alloys used in the plug connector business in the aviation industry. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The Molecular Diagnostics (RMD) division of Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche opened a new research facility at the company’s existing campus in Pleasanton, California. The Pleasanton campus now houses nearly 500 employees, including 120 members of RMD’s research teams previously located in Alameda.
Swiss-based Novartis has acquired a twenty five per cent stake in Alcon, a Fort Worth based company specializing in ophthalmics, which ranks among the fastest-growing sectors in pharmaceuticals. The initial 25 per cent acquisition from current owner Nestle is estimated to cost about $11 billion. Novartis retains the right to buy the remaining shares at a later date.
According to the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, Petroplus Holding AG, based in Zug, is forming a joint venture with US based private equity groups Blackstone and First Reserve, to purchase crude oil refineries in the US. The joint venture will operate under the name PBF.
From The Foreign Desk
Egypt’s hotel and tourism company Orascom Hotels & Development SAE is relocating its headquarters to Altdorf, canton Uri, as Orascom Development Holding AG and will list on the Swiss Stock Exchange SWX. The move is to give the family owned company better access to capital markets to fund expansion. The company earlier received the go-ahead to build a resort complex in Andermatt in the same canton.
It has been reported that Texas Pacific Group (TPG) has agreed to sell Swiss shoe group Bally International to the Labelux Group, formed by the German Reimann family. The transaction is said to be valued in the $600 million range.
Terumo Corporation of Tokyo, Japan has opened a branch office in Wettingen. Terumo is a global manufacturer of medical devices with 2007 annual revenues exceeding $2.5 billion. The president of European operations noted that “Switzerland is home to many of the world’s largest healthcare companies and the opening of the Swiss branch presents a tremendous growth opportunity for the company.”
Other News
Switzerland, Austria and Germany have the most attractive environments for developing the travel and tourism industry, according to the second annual Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008, released by the World Economic Forum. Rankings are based on the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) covering 130 countries around the world. The top-ranked countries demonstrate the importance of supportive business and regulatory frameworks, coupled with world-class transport and tourism infrastructure and a focus on nurturing human and natural resources.
The March 14 issue of Financial Times reported on Yahoo’s plan to “quit London office for Geneva,” adding that recent wins for Switzerland included Google’s engineering headquarters in Zurich and Electronic Arts moving its European headquarters from outside London to Geneva.
The March issue of Business & Commercial Aviation reported on five regional Swiss airports agreeing to cooperate in a push to attract more business traffic. Location Promotion Switzerland’s role is mentioned. The airports serve Berne, Luzerne, Lugano, Sion and St. Gallen, with Grenchen and Sameden expected to join in.
Switzerland ranks third after Denmark and Sweden in the 2007-08 Global Information Technology Report produced by the World Economic Forum in cooperation with INSEAD, the leading international business school. Published for the seventh consecutive year with record coverage of 127 economies worldwide, the Report has become the world’s most comprehensive and authoritative international assessment of the impact of ICT on the development process and the competitiveness of nations. www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Global%20Information%20Technology%20Report/index.htm
Switzerland ranks 5th in Europe in the 2008 E-readiness Index. The annual survey examines the information and communication technology (ICT) of 70 economies, using a model developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit in cooperation with the IBM Institute for Business.
Publicity and Promotion
Releases distributed since our last newsletter
Feb. 19 – Switzerland’s 48 New FDI Projects from North America Highest in Seven Years
March 4 – DNA2.0 Establishes EMEA Headquarters in Switzerland
March 18 - Kelly Services Establishes EMEA Headquarters in Switzerland
April 1 - Synosia Therapeutics Opens Corporate Headquarters in Switzerland
For further information or registration log onto www.locationswitzerland.com/html/events.html
May 4-6 FEI Summit 2008, Phoenix, AZ
June 1-5 Swiss Pavilion at NSTI Nanotech 2008 Boston MA
June 7 + 29 EU Sports and Business Event, Washington DC and NYC
June 9-11 FEI Canada 2008 Conference, Jasper Canada
June 12 Swiss Showcase Calgary
June 13 Swiss Showcase Vancouver
June 17-20 BIO 2008 San Diego, CA
SwissInk
Note that links were active at the time of publication
An interview of Mario Brossi by Staci Dixon of CoreNet Global’s The Leader resulted in a 2-page overview in the September-October 2007 issue discussing the current FDI environment. It is posted at http://www.locationswitzerland.com/html/newsletters-pr-articles/articles/2007-09-lsecodevlbos.pdf
The January issue of Site Selection carried a report on Diebold and CHS choosing Geneva as their EMEA headquarters. http://www.siteselection.com/issues/2008/jan/worldReports/ (scroll down to article).
Our release
on 2007 project wins from North America was picked up by 17 online news and
information sites including Yahoo! Finance, Oxford Intelligence’s IPA World,
Forbes.com, LA Times, Houston Chronicle, Bizjournals.com, Banker &
Tradesman, and the
Bolsamania Web
Financial Group.
Our releases on DNA2.0 and Kelly Services establishing EMEA HQs in Switzerland were picked up by The Nanotechnology Newsletter
Advanced Biotech, based in India, carried our DNA2.O release it in its entirety in the March print edition and on the web at www.lifesciencesindustrynews.com/DNA.html
The Nanotechnology Newsletter has started a new “Reports” column, the first of which contains reports from Switzerland (scroll down at) www.nanonews.tv/documents/reports.html
swissinfo on March 5 ran an article on Microsoft, a 2006 Tell Award winner for its Zurich Developer Center, titled “The world's largest software firm, Microsoft, and Switzerland's two Federal Institutes of Technology have announced a funding and technology-sharing agreement.” http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swissinfo.html?siteSect=161&sid=8816767
First postings from Sports Business Media Tour
The Sports Business Media Tour held during the week of April 20 drew 10 participants from the U.S. and Canada. Thanks to the marvel of the Internet, highlights of the tour were posted during the event at cansport.com and can be seen at
http://www.cansport.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?lang=e&type=feature&tpl=&rec_id=12115
http://www.cansport.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?lang=e&type=feature&tpl=&rec_id=12108
http://www.cansport.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?lang=e&type=feature&tpl=&rec_id=12105
http://www.cansport.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?lang=e&type=feature&tpl=&rec_id=12101
http://www.cansport.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?lang=e&type=feature&tpl=&rec_id=12099
Upcoming Newsletters will report on additional coverage.
May 1, 2008