Osram eyes acquisitions of up to 500 million euros - CFO in paper

BERLIN (Reuters) - German lighting company Osram is on the lookout for acquisitions worth up to 500 million euros ($530 million), although there are no specific plans for a deal as yet, its finance chief told a German newspaper.

Osram wants to strengthen the areas of electronics and software within its automotive lighting unit and is looking for acquisition targets or partners, Ingo Bank told Boersen-Zeitung in an interview published on Saturday.

Acquisitions for its Opto semiconductors unit would also be attractive if they opened up access to markets, he said.

Osram has funds available after the sale of lamps division LEDvance, which brought in gross proceeds of about 500 million euros, and thanks to its strong balance sheet, Bank said.

"We have a lot of firepower and the ability to act. However, we will not be making the error of buying for the sake of it," the paper quoted him as saying.

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Louise Ireland)