Stada CEO says no interest co being bought - paper

FRANKFURT, May 18 (Reuters) - German generic drugmaker Stada (STAGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) does not want to be acquired and is instead looking for takeovers itself, Chief Executive Hartmut Retzlaff told a German Sunday newspaper.

"We do not put any store in being taken over. There are no talks about this," he was quoted as saying by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

Stada is often rumoured to be a takeover target, and its shares rose sharply late last month on speculation that Swiss group Novartis (NOVN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) could be interested.

Retzlaff said Stada was looking primarily to eastern Europe for acquisitions and would need to increase its capital only if a really big purchase emerged.

He said Stada, now ranked number seven globally, wanted to advance to fifth place within three years.

He reiterated that the company envisioned strong growth this year and in years ahead. "For us that means as a rule double-digit percentage growth in sales and earnings."

He said sales outside Germany could soon surpass 70 percent from 63 percent now. "The markets that are interesting to us are in eastern Europe, especially Russia, but our generics are growing strongly in the EU as well, for instance in Italy," he said. (Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Jason Neely) (michael.shields@thomsonreuters.com, Reuters Messaging: michael.shields.reuters.com@reuters.net; +49 69 7565 1266))