"We have sufficient means to carry out large acquisitions - be it through cash or bank credit lines," Klaus Stahlmann who took over as CEO four months ago, told the Sonntagszeitung newspaper in an interview.

"Sulzer has a strong balance sheet and can therefore also make large acquisitions in the range of 1 billion Swiss francs," he said.

Stahlmann said organic growth remained the priority but said at the same time they had their radar on alert for potential buys.

"We have a list of companies that we would like to have," he said.

In particular, he noted the company was lacking certain products in its pumps business for the oil and gas markets and said there were also gaps in its water and sewage portfolio.

He said the component and processes area, petrochemical service business as well as its service for turbines, motors and generators could be developed geographically. ($1 = 0.9465 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Caroline Copley; editing by Jason Neely)

• A Permanent Economic Emergency