"The time has come to focus on takeovers again," Simone Bagel-Trah, who chairs Henkel's supervisory board, told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in an interview, excerpts of which were published on Saturday.

"Takeovers are a crucial part of our strategy. We have a comprehensive list of potential targets," Jan-Dirk Auris, management board member and head of the Henkel's adhesives division, told WirtschaftsWoche in a separate interview.

Auris said that the global adhesives market was divided into 70 segments with a total of 1,000 competitors, with little overlap between them and Henkel.

Last month Henkel Chief Executive Kasper Rorsted said the group was looking at takeover opportunities if they were a good strategic fit and had a 4 billion euro ($5.5 billion) war chest for purchases.

In its last major acquisition, Henkel bought National Starch in 2008 for 3.7 billion euros to expand its adhesives division.

The group, which makes Persil washing powder in Germany and Schwarzkopf hair products, last month raised its outlook for this year's profit margin after demand for washing powder and industrial adhesives in emerging markets helped offset currency headwinds in the third quarter.

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; editing by Jane Baird)