Korea Development mulls bidding for Siam City

Move is KDB's response to Korean President's pressure to boost competency of state-owned banks by privatisation.

KDB Chief Executive Officer Min Euoo Sung is in Thailand for meetings with relevant officials, the person famliar with the matter said, declining to be identified because the talks are preliminary. Local newspaper Chosun Ilbo earlier reported the company's interest in Thailand's seventh-biggest lender.

Min aims to buy at least two lenders in Asia this year as South Korean President Lee Myung Bak pushes for privatisation of state-owned lenders. Thailand's central bank is seeking about $1 billion for its 47.6 percent stake in Siam City, people with knowledge of the matter said in November, according to a report in Bloomberg.

Thai’s central bank has said it plans to complete the sale by the end of March.