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This article is based on the research process for our list of the largest companies in Switzerland. The list includes contact details, fields of activities, revenues (if publicly available) and many more valuable data points.
Bern is not only the federal capital and thus the seat of Switzerland’s most important state institutions. Major companies have also set up their headquarters here, not least those with a strong governmental connection:
1) Swisscom AG
Swisscom is a successor company of the Swiss “Post-, Telefon- und Telegrafenbetriebe” (PTT) and covers its former telecommunications division. It was founded in 1997 in the course of the deregulation of the Swiss telecommunications market. The company is still the largest Swiss telecommunications provider with a market share of just over 50 percent. Its business covers the customer segments Residential Customers, Business Customers & Wholesale, and IT, Network & Infrastructure. Originally a purely state-owned company, the Swiss Confederation is still the majority owner of Swisscom with 51 percent, while most of the rest of the shares are in free float. In 2022, the group had more than 19,000 employees and generated sales of CHF 11.1 billion.
2) CSL Behring AG
CSL Behring AG is a Swiss subsidiary of CSL Behring – a business unit of the Australian biopharma group CSL Limited. CSL Behring has focused on the manufacture of plasma products. The Swiss subsidiary is also involved in this field. At the beginning of its history was the “Zentrallaboratorium Blutspendedienst” (ZLB) of the Swiss Red Cross, founded in 1949. Later, the ZLB was taken over by the CSL Group. Today, CSL Behring employs around 1,800 people at its Bern site. The CSL Group has more than 30,000 employees worldwide. In 2022, the group generated sales of $10.6 billion.
3) Schweizerische Bundesbahnen AG
Schweizerische Bundesbahnen AG – SBB for short – is the state-owned railroad company in Switzerland. SBB was created in 1902 as a result of the nationalization of several previously private railroad companies. In 1999, it was spun off from the direct federal administration and transformed into a joint stock company under public law. The Swiss Confederation is the sole shareholder. SBB operates a route network of more than 3,000 km in Switzerland and employs more than 34,000 people. Important divisions are SBB Passenger Traffic, SBB Cargo, SBB Real Estate and SBB Infrastructure. In 2022, sales of just under CHF 9.4 billion were achieved.
Picture source: Andreas Fischinger via Unsplash (29.04.2023)