INTERVIEW-UPDATE 1-Henkel sees agreement on Ecolab stake sale

* expects agreement on sale of Ecolab stake this year

* acquisitions to remain part of stratgy in all business fields

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By Douwe Miedema

ST GALLEN, Switzerland (Reuters) - German cosmetics and detergents group Henkel expects an agreement on the sale of its Ecolab Inc (ECL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) stake this year, the company's finance head told Reuters on Friday.

"We expect that the divestment will take place this year. When exactly cannot be predicted," Chief Financial Officer Lothar Steinebach said in an interview in the sidelines of a event at the St Gallen business university.

"We're not under pressure (to sell)," he said, adding the company was well financed having secured bridge financing for its 4 billion euro ($6.2 billion) acquisition of part of adhesives and electronics materials business National Starch.

Henkel AG & Co KGaA (HNKG_p.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) -- whose brands include Pritt, Schwarzkopf and Loctite -- said in February it would sell its stake in Ecolab to finance the buy of National Starch, a division of ICI, now part of Dutch chemicals maker Akzo Nobel NV (AKZO.AS: Quote, Profile, Research).

The company was looking to place the Ecolab stake of just under 30 percent in the market, Steinebach said, or Ecolab could alternatively step in through a share buyback, buying all or part of the stake itself.