"We are now aiming for smaller and medium-sized acquisitions in order to strengthen ourselves selectively in those areas where we can become even better," said Schneider.

Acquisitions can range from 1 to 3 billion euros, said Schneider, who added that liquidity was not an issue.

"We have liquidity of almost 3 and a half billion euros. We want to maintain a minimum liquidity of 1 billion plus 10%. That currently corresponds to about 2.6 billion euros," he said.

An acquisition would only be made if it fit the company's portfolio strategically, financially and culturally, he added.

($1 = 0.9084 euros)

(Writing by Miranda Murray, Editing by Friederike Heine)