Contract electronics maker Celestica Inc is examining 14 companies in the healthcare industry as possible acquisition targets, its chief executive said on Tuesday.

That's probably where an acquisition of intellectual property, technology (or) market position would be something that would be more attractive to us, Craig Muhlhauser said during an investor conference presentation.

The Toronto-based company, whose customers have included computer giant IBM and handset maker Motorola, has been looking to diversify its business as spending by major telecom customers has slowed.

Celestica had revenue of $1.56 billion in the three months ended September 30. Of that, 12 percent came from telecom customers and 20 percent came from the enterprise communications market. About 32 percent was from the consumer market. Industrial, aerospace, defense and healthcare customers together accounted for just 10 percent.

At the end of September, the company had cash and cash equivalents of about $1.26 billion.

If we're looking at paying a significant premium, we want to be very careful that we have a clear line of sight as to how we're going to recover value for that investment, Muhlhauser said.

Celestica's shares were up 5 Canadian cents at C$9.26 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning. They have a year low of C$3.36, set in March, and a year high of C$10.80, set in September.

($1=$1.05 Canadian)

(Reporting by Wojtek Dabrowski; editing by Peter Galloway)

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