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SWISS BUSINESS NEWS

 

 

FALL 2005

 

 

Top of the News

 

According to the Anhold-GMI Nation Brand Index for 2005, Switzerland turns out to have one of the most powerful nation brands in the world ranking third behind Australia and Canada.  Switzerland is associated with purity, integrity, trustworthiness and competence. The index is the first analytical ranking of the world's nation brands based on consumers' perception of cultural, political, commercial and human assets, investment potential and tourist appeal of 25 developed and developing countries. Overall Ranking: 3rd, Exports: 4th, 
Governance: 1st, Culture and Heritage: 13th, Investment and Immigration: 4th, Tourism: 5th, 
People: 6th.  For a pdf of the report, email locswitz@locationswitzerland.com, subject Brands Index

 

 

Wins and Updates

 

Leading computer games firm Electronic Arts has announced plans to create an international headquarters in Geneva for its publishing business. The new office will oversee EA's publishing activity for all global locations outside the U.S. and is expected to be up and running by summer 2006. According to a company spokeswoman, among reasons for selecting Switzerland and Geneva are excellent schooling and lifestyle, an international flavor and talent pool, and closer proximity to markets from the heart of Europe.

 

Also from California, ESP (Environmental Software Providers) has opened its Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) headquarters in Zurich.

 

Washington, DC based and founded global law giant, Hogan & Hartson, has opened a law office in Geneva aimed at the international market.  The firm's Geneva office will handle all international arbitration cases from around the world.

 

Massachusetts-based Optaros Inc, an open source software consulting and integration firm, announced its further expansion in the European market by opening an office in Zurich.  The facility provides financial services and telecommunications companies with strategic consulting and information system development services.  In July the company announced its European headquarters in Geneva.

 

Novelis Inc., (NYSE, TSE: NVL) the global leader in aluminum rolled products, is investing some four million dollars in the construction of a new blanking center at its rolling mill in Sierre, canton Valais. The center will produce technologically advanced aluminum sheets to be stamped, or pressed, into automotive body panels.  The company's European headquarters is in Zurich and it operates a technical center in Neuhausen.

 

RiskMetrics Group, the leading financial risk management firm, has opened an office in Geneva to focus on research and analytics to serve clients worldwide. Emphasis is on the specific needs of the European market. It will ultimately become home to a full-service staff that will include sales, account management and operations personnel.

 

 

From The Foreign Desk

 

London-headquartered Taylor Nelson Sofres Plc (TNS), the world's largest custom research company and a leading provider of social and political polling, has opened a new office in Geneva to provide on-site support for its clients in Switzerland. The office offers account management and consulting support for business carried out by TNS teams from other countries in Western Europe and the USA.

 

Also from the UK, 20:20 Group, a collaboration of turnaround specialists, has established 20:20 Group (Schweiz) in Zurich.

 

Dutch company NetQuestionnaires Nederland BV, a company specializing in online data collection, has opened an office in Zurich's Technopark to serve customers in Switzerland, Southern Germany, Northern Italy, Eastern France and Austria.

 

Med Services Europe, a "Virtual European Headquarters" for pharmaceutical and medical manufacturers has relocated from The Netherlands to Zurich for reasons that include a much better business environment for a European headquarters, strong support from local authorities, a business friendly government, central location, excellent transportation services, and multilingual employees.

 

 

Other News

 

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis raised its bid to acquire the remaining shares of California based Chiron.  With the unanimous approval of the sweetened bid by Chiron's board of directors, Novartis will take over a vaccines, blood testing and biopharmaceuticals business which employs over 5,000 persons globally and with reported sales in 2004 of $1.7 billion. This major acquisition follows the purchases earlier this year of a reported twenty percent of Cambridge, MA based Alnylam and the North American over-the-counter division of Bristol-Myers Squibb.

 

Swiss temporary employment leader Addeco has announced the purchase of StaffWise Legal, a firm specializing in finding and placing lawyers and others working in the legal profession.  StaffWise, established in 1980, has about a half dozen offices in the major U.S. markets.

 

Zurich Financial Services, one of the largest property-casualty insurance companies, has announced the opening of an office in Denver, CO.  The new office is designed to strengthen the company's focus on Colorado and the Southwestern United States.

 

Also continuing its expansion course in the U.S., Swiss electro-mechanical leader Saia-Burgess has purchased the CEI company based in Springfield, TN.  The purchase makes the Swiss company, itself being purchased by the Chinese Johnson Electric Group, the U.S. leader in actuators for air-conditioning systems in the automotive industry.

 

Arctic Cooling Inc., a privately owned company founded in 2001, with its headquarters in Switzerland, announced the opening of its North American sales office in New York City.  Arctic Cooling is a leader in thermal cooling solutions for personal computer systems.

 

The board of directors for Austin's transit agency Cap Metro voted to enter into a contract worth about $32 million with Bussnang-based railcar manufacturer Stadler Rail A.G. Stadler manufactured 20 similar railcars for service on New Jersey's Trenton to Camden River Line.

 

Lenzburg-based Hero Group has acquired baby-food manufacturer Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation to become the number 2 player in the U.S. baby-food market. Beech-Nut is headquartered in St. Louis Missouri and enjoys a market share of 15% in the U.S.  At newsletter publication time the 100% acquisition was subject to approval from the U.S. anti-trust authorities.

 

Swiss surveying specialist Leica Geosystems, which earlier in the year reported opening its expanded American headquarters in Norcross, Georgia, has now further strengthened its North American position.  Leica announced the purchase of Calgary, Alberta-based Terramatics, a leader in GPS navigational systems.

 

Also north of the border, Toronto based MinnovEX, a metallurgical testing and measurement enterprise specializing in the mining sector has been acquired by the Swiss SGS Group.  Founded in 1878, SGS is recognized as a global leader in inspection, verification, testing and certification services.

 

In a referendum held September 25 Switzerland voted in favor of easing restrictions on East European workers, thereby backing government plans to open the labor market in stages to the ten mainly East European nations that joined the union in May 2004. About a fifth of Switzerland's more than 7 million population are foreigners, one of the largest proportions in Europe.

 

The new de Young Memorial Museum, planned by Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, has opened near San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. Reviled by some, lauded by others, its design has left no one indifferent in a city renowned for its openness, but often conservative when it comes to architecture (SwissInfo).

 

Transparency International's 2005 Corruption Perception Index places Switzerland 7th, 5th in Europe among 159 nations surveyed.  The U.S. ranks 17th.  The CIP is a composite survey reflecting the perceptions of business people and country analysts. www.transparency.org

 

 

Publicity and Promotion

 

If you have not yet visited our updated website, please do so now.  Caroline Blaser, our project manager in New York, did an outstanding job in bringing it into the 21st Century.

 

 

Releases distributed since the last newsletter:

 

 

Sept. 13 - Systems Integrator Avanade opens branch in Switzerland

 

Sept. 26 - Environmental Software Providers opens EMEA Headquarters in Switzerland

 

Oct. 4 - Novelis Investing $4 Million to Expand Rolling Mill in Switzerland

 

Oct. 18 - RiskMetrics Group Bases New Research and Analytics Center in Switzerland

 

 

 

News from Location Promotion Switzerland