As Greece awaits finalisation of its latest loan deal, its banking sector is already forming mergers in order to wind down international operations. 

Eurobank is to purchase the 80 Bulgarian branches of Alpha Bank. The boards of the two banks met on Friday to finalise the deal according to a representative of Eurobank.

The widely held belief is that the four Greek owned banks of Bulgaria will quickly lose market share in the country as a result of loss of confidence during the crisis. Therefore, in accordance with the terms of the latest Greek loan deal, its banks must restructure for an orderly sale of all operations in the Balkans.

Following the wind down of operations, focus by Greek banks must be primarily its domestic market.

Up to a quarter of all Bulgarian banking assets are Greek owned. The four major Greek owned banks in Bulgaria include; Eurobank, Alpha Bank, Piraeus and United Bulgarian Bank.

It is not certain whether banks in Greece will reopen on Monday.