Germany's ZF takeover hunger not sated by TRW buy

By Ilona Wissenbach

HANOVER Germany (Reuters) - German auto supplier ZF Friedrichshafen [ZFF.UL] will consider further acquisitions after agreeing a $13.5 billion (8.23 billion pounds) takeover including debt of U.S. peer TRW (TRW.N) last week, ZF's chief executive said on Tuesday.

"We have not reached the limits of our financing capabilities," Stefan Sommer said on the sidelines of the IAA commercial vehicles show.

Unlisted ZF, which is controlled by a foundation, wants to build up its commercial vehicles and industrial technology, he said. "Small, bolt-on acquisitions are certainly not excluded."

The unlisted company last week agreed to buy TRW, paying $105.60 in cash for each TRW share, or nearly $12 billion

based on outstanding shares.

The acquisition of Livonia, Michigan-based TRW, which makes airbags and electronic sensors, will create one of the largest auto supply firms in the world. ZF is itself a major provider of steering systems and drive trains.

With combined sales of over $40 billion, the merged company will be in the league of German companies like Robert Bosch [ROBG.UL] and Continental (CONG.DE) as well as Japan's Denso.

Even without TRW, ZF expects to raise sales by more than 1 billion euros (786.47 million pounds) to 18 billion euros this year, Sommer said.

(Writing by Jonathan Gould, editing by Louise Heavens)