At its meeting of 10 March 2008, the Board of Directors of the Swatch Group AG decided to further strengthen the group's presence in the City of Biel/Bienne and to extend the key activities of its biggest brands Omega and Swatch on the existing Omega site and in its vicinity.
To enable these plans to be implemented, the City of Biel/Bienne and the Swatch Group companies Omega and Swatch signed a preliminary agreement containing the following provisions:
Omega Ltd. proposes to partially replace the existing buildings at J.-Stämpflistrasse 96 in Biel/Bienne and erect new buildings on previously vacant parts of the site.
In addition, Omega Ltd. is to acquire the plot of land covering around 1,200 m2, which will be created by the City of Biel/Bienne on the Omega site after the planned leveling of Gottstattstrasse. The purchase price for this new part of the plot is CHF 1.5 million.
Swatch Ltd. wishes to build a complex of buildings for its administrative headquarters with representation and exhibition premises in the immediate vicinity of its headquarters, currently located in the Omega buildings.
It submitted an application to Biel/Bienne Municipal Council to acquire the "Gygax Site", opposite the existing Omega site. This land covers an area of around 19,200 m2 with frontage on Gottstattstrasse/Jakob-Stämpflistrasse. The purchase price for the "Gygax Site" is CHF 12.75 million.
At present, the Wyss Samen und Pflanzen AG Company is located on the site. Swatch Ltd. will take over the rental agreement of Messrs Wyss AG which runs until 30 June 2012, together with the rental agreements for the two buildings at J.-Stämpflistrasse 108 and 110. T
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