MANNESMANN SEEKS STAKE IN U.S. FIRM Mannesmann AG <MMWG.F>, the diversified engineering and pipe-making group, is interested in taking a stake in a U.S. Company or companies but has not yet found a suitable firm, a spokesman said in reply to questions. Mannesmann managing board chairman Werner Dieter told the business weekly Wirtschaftswoche in an interview that Mannesmann wanted to invest in a U.S. Company in order to strengthen its presence on the U.S. Market. Dieter said Mannesmann would act quickly when and if it found a firm in which it wanted to take a stake. The Mannesmann spokesman declined to say in which industrial sector the group may make a U.S. Acquisition or how big the acquisition might be. He also said the group had not yet completed taking over a stake in car components firm <Fichtel und Sachs AG>. Mannesmann had said in January it hoped to take a 37.5 pct stake in Fichtel und Sachs's holding company, Sachs AG, in the first quarter. The spokesman said Mannesmann had a letter of intent on the takeover from the heirs of the company's late owner but completion has been delayed by legal questions concerning the inheritance.