to acquire by subscription, purchase, exchange or otherwise shares, participations and other securities, bonds, treasury bills and other debt securities and more generally all securities and other financial instruments representing property rights, claims or securities issued by all public or private issuers; to exercise all rights, of whatever nature, attached to these securities and financial instruments; to provide any direct or indirect financial assistance, as the case may be, to entities in which it holds a participation or which are part of their group of companies, in particular through loans, advances or guarantees in any form and for any duration and to provide advice and assistance in any form; to invest in mezzanine debt instruments, namely the investment, inter alia, in non-listed bond issues with detachable subscription warrants, preferred mezzanine shares without subscription warrants, convertible bonds, participating loans and all other financial instruments subordinated to bank debt, commercial debt or other than shareholder advances, but privileged over ordinary shares and shareholder loans; these include any mezzanine debt or PIK debt; excluding operations prohibited by the Federal Act on the Acquisition of Real Estate by Foreigners (LFAIE), and the exercise of the activity of real estate trader.