June 9 (Bloomberg) -- Timex Group BV, the closely held U.S. watchmaker, plans to follow up last week’s acquisition of the Marc Ecko trademark with more purchases to add brands and boost capacity, Chief Executive Officer Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard said.

Speaking in an interview yesterday, Hoejsgaard said he aims to complete at least one other deal before the end of this year.

“We are very aggressively looking at opportunities,” Danish-born Hoejsgaard said. “We can take a long-term view.”

Timex won’t take on debt to make the purchases, according to Hoejsgaard, who was appointed by the controlling Olsen family 14 months ago to pull the Waterbury, Connecticut-based company’s 12 brands into an integrated group. He declined to say which companies he is looking at, or how much he is willing to spend.

The watchmaker, which produces timepieces from $19.99 models under its own name to $130,000 Vincent Berard collectors’ items, didn’t say how much it paid for the Marc Ecko trademark, which it has been producing under license since 2002.

Timex wants to expand at the mass, fashion and luxury levels and add Swiss watch-making capacity, according to the executive. He said he’s not interested in buying Bulgari SpA, which has a market value of 1.1 billion euros ($1.5 billion), or Gucci Timepieces, a division of PPR SA’s Gucci Group.

Group sales last year rose 10 percent to $800 million and the watchmaker has no long-term borrowings, Hoejsgaard said.

The Timex brand is benefiting in the economic crisis as consumers seek cheaper alternatives, he added.

Vincent Berard

“People are returning to value for money,” the CEO said.

Demand for the most expensive watches is also lifting sales at the Vincent Berard brand, which has timepieces priced between $95,000 and $130,000, Hoejsgaard said in a May 26 interview.

The executive started building Timex’s luxury division by signing licenses to make watches for fashion labels Valentino, Versace and Salvatore Ferragamo. Last year, the company also delivered its first watches for Vincent Berard, even though it had acquired the luxury watch label several years earlier.

“Our entry into luxury was based on a sustainable, long- term view,” Hoejsgaard said.

The executive aims to boost sales of luxury watches to about 15 percent of total sales from 5 percent now. Timex also makes fashion watches under the Guess, Gc, Marc Ecko, Nautica and Opex labels. Hoejsgaard said he aims to increase the percentage of business coming from brands that Timex owns.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sara Gay Forden in Milan at sforden@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 9, 2009 04:00 EDT