MANNESMANN CONSIDERING MAJORITY STAKE IN FICHTEL

  A Mannesmann AG &lt;MMWG.F> spokesman
  said the company has lodged an application with the Federal
  Cartel Office for approval of a possible majority stake in car
  parts company &lt;Fichtel und Sachs AG>.
      He described the application as a precautionary move and
  said no agreement on buying a majority stake had yet been
  reached. Until now Mannesmann has said only that it wanted to
  buy a 37.5 pct stake in Fichtel from the heirs of Ernst Wilhelm
  Sachs, the grandson of the firm's founder.
      The spokesman declined to say from whom it may buy the
  other shares to create a majority stake in the firm.
      Fichtel's other principal shareholders are Commerzbank AG
  &lt;CBKG.F>, with 35.01 pct, and Salzgitter AG &lt;ISLG.F>, with
  24.98 pct. Spokesmen declined to comment directly on the
  possibility of selling Fichtel shares to Mannesmann.
      Mannesmann said in January it hoped to take a 37.5 pct
  stake in Fichtel's holding company Sachs AG in the first
  quarter.
      Last week a spokesman said Mannesmann had a letter of
  intent on the 37.5 pct stake but completion was being delayed
  by legal questions surrounding the inheritance.
  

