* KDB in deal talks over Southeast Asian banks - CEO
* Reviewing bid targets in Egypt
* Aims to seal Korea Express sale before Daewoo Shipbuilding
By Ju-min Park and Lee Changho
SEOUL, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Korea Development Bank is in talks over a number of deals with Southeast Asia-based banks, including an estimated $1 billion stake purchase, and is reviewing targets in Egypt, its chief executive said.
The state-run bank is looking outside the saturated domestic market to build global bridgeheads with an emphasis on overseas mergers or acquisitions.
"We are looking at sizeable banks in several countries ... There are a few (deals) in the last stages of negotiations," Min Euoo-sung said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday.
However, he did not offer many more clues on the talks, citing confidentiality.
The potential deals represent the latest effort by Min to pursue acquisitions abroad after KDB pulled out of bidding for an estimated $900 million stake in Thailand's Siam City Bank early last year, and failed to buy a 25 percent stake in Min's former employer Lehman Brothers.
But Min needs the bank's only shareholder, the South Korean government, on his side through any transaction.
"We won't have any problem with the Volcker rule this time; we have reduced the asset size a lot," Min said of one of the reasons KDB walked away from the Siam City Bank bid.
LARGE-SCALE INVESTMENT BANK
Min clinched a small deal for an 82.35 percent stake in Royal Bank of Scotland Plc's Uzbekistan operation, reportedly worth around 20 billion won ($17.94 million), in December last year.
The next target regions after Southeast Asia will be the Middle East and Africa.
"Egypt is possible. (We are) keeping a close eye on the market," the 56-year-old veteran investment banker said, adding that KDB was studying a few targets it had yet to approach.
KDB, whose parent plans to float its shares this year in the domestic market, would be able to establish local funding bases via acquisitions to meet the growing need for fresh investment in social infrastructure across Asia, Min added.
"We are spreading a net now to fish later ... I'm envisioning a large-scale investment bank such as Deutsche Bank AG ... There's no change to our expansion strategy and we'll actively proceed with M&A plans," he said.
GOING PRIVATE
Compared with domestic rivals such as KB Financial Group and Shinhan Financial Group, KDB has a relatively small retail branch network in the country.
The bank was in discussions with the government to start a credit card business as part of its plan to secure its deposit base and transform into a commercial bank.
Min, formerly an investment banker with Morgan Stanley and now-defunct Lehman Brothers, joined KDB as the first senior executive without a public sector background.
Now Min is working to privatise KDB, which helped fund South Korea's rise to become Asia's fourth-largest economy from the rubble of a war in just over a generation.
KOREA EXPRESS, DAEWOO SHIPBUILDING
KDB aims to complete the sale of the country's top logistics firm Korea Express Co Ltd by June, although its creditors, which include KDB, have yet to decide on a specific sale method.
A number of local conglomerates including POSCO were interested in bidding for stakes in Korea Express, Min said.
The world's No.3 steelmaker has made public its interest in a $1 billion stake in Korea Express.
Meanwhile, the bank would restart the stalled sale of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd but was waiting until the sale of Korea Express was completed, he said. (Editing by Chris Lewis)