Icelandic generic drug maker Actavis aims to become the world's third-largest manufacturer of copycat medicines via acquisitions, Chief Executive Officer Claudio Albrecht told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.

"We want to move up to be the third-largest generic manufacturer worldwide, and we can't achieve this goal without acquisitions and partnerships," Albrecht said.

Albrecht was appointed as Actavis' new chief executive on Wednesday, succeeding Sigurdur Oli Olafsson, who stepped down after working for the company for seven years.

The company is currently in fourth place, with annual sales of about EUR1.7 billion, Albrecht said. U.S. competitor Mylan Inc. (MYL) is No. 3 with annual sales of $5.1 billion. Novartis AG's (NVS) generic arm Sandoz is second with annual sales of $7.5 billion and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) is the biggest with annual sales of about $16.2 billion, including its recent acquisition of Germany's Ratiopharm.

The market has long speculated that one acquisition possibility for Actavis would be German generic drug maker Stada Arzneimittel AG (SAZ.XE). Albrecht declined to comment on speculation regarding Stada.

"To increase its market share this would of course be the right move," said Ulrich Huwald, an analyst at M.M. Warburg. "Considering Stada's 100% free-float, an attractive offer would make a takeover a good possibility."

Stada's 2009 sales were EUR1.57 billion.

Since Actavis has billions of euros of debt with Deutsche Bank AG (DB), the drug company's expansion ambitions are probably supported by the bank. Neither Albrecht nor Deutsche Bank would comment on whether the bank will become an actual shareholder in Actavis. For now, the company has sufficient capital to expand, Albrecht said.

"I wouldn't have taken this job if Actavis weren't on sound financial footing," he added.

Further, Albrecht said he could imagine an initial public offering of Actavis in three to five years.

No stranger to the business, Albrecht was previously chief executive of Ratiopharm, where sales doubled during his tenure.

-By Eyk Henning, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29725 108; eyk.henning@dowjones.com