Medtech company to move to Zug with 130 employees

The Zug medical technology 'cluster' will soon become larger. The American implant manufacturer Zimmer Biomet is moving its headquarters for the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, Africa) from Winterthur to Zug. "We have rented premises within walking distance of the railway station in Zug, and these are now being made ready for occupancy," says a company spokeswoman on request.

It is planned that up to 130 employees - including many managers - will be asked to move their jobs from Winterthur to Zug by the end of this year. The schedule has not yet been set in stone, however, because a consultation phase is currently ongoing. The majority of the employees will remain in Winterthur, where the listed company operates one of the world's largest production facilities, with around a thousand employees. “We have established a strong and successful manufacturing location in Winterthur over the past decades. Zimmer Biomet will continue to hold onto the Winterthur location and Switzerland in general,” emphasizes EMEA head Didier Deltort in an announcement.

With over 18,000 employees worldwide, Zimmer Biomet generates around $ 8 billion a year. The EMEA headquarters in Winterthur emerged from Centerpulse, a spin-off from Sulzer Medica, which Zimmer took over in 2003. Zimmer then took over the competitor Biomet, which had previously also been interested in the competitors Smith & Nephew and Johnson & Johnson, in 2015. All of these companies now have well-known locations in Zug, and this cluster was a major reason for Zimmer Biomet to choose Zug as a new location, said the company spokeswoman.

The canton of Zug offers numerous advantages and is very attractive for talents in the medtech industry, adds the company spokeswoman: “It is known as a centre for the pharmaceutical and medical technology industry, which attracts highly qualified workers from all over the world. We assume that the Zimmer Biomet organisation will benefit from the positive economic business environment there.” Other locations had also been evaluated, including outside Switzerland.

Zimmer Biomet manufactures implants.

As can be heard from the Zug Economic Development Agency, the responsible persons in Zug did not actively involve themselves in the relocation, as it is a relocation within Switzerland. Zimmer Biomet acted on its own initiative. Although the ’cluster’ situation must have played a major role in the choice of location, the tax situation also did. Zug will be back in the top spot in the Switzerland-wide comparison of cantons this year, following the implementation of the Switzerland-wide tax reform. Whereas Zug has reduced its corporate income tax to around 12 %, Zurich remains well behind in terms of taxation in Switzerland, even with the planned cut to 19.7 % next year.

It is clear to Zurich's location promoters and politicians that the Zug tax advantages were decisive. "I warned about scenarios like this in connection with the tax law," said Winterthur mayor Michael Künzle to the "Landbote" newspaper.

It’s not exactly known how much tax Zimmer Biomet will pay in Zug. Zug's director of economics, Silvia Thalmann-Gut, will not comment on this, citing tax secrecy. According to the " Landbote" during the vote on corporate tax reform bill three years ago, the company spoke of a "two-digit million amount." The company was flirting with the idea of a move even then.

In addition, the move of the EMEA headquarters will probably also bring many top earners to Zug. With an annual income of CHF 180,000 and assets of CHF 1 million, a married person in the city of Zug could save over CHF 10,000 in taxes per year compared to Winterthur, according to calculations made by the “Landbote”.