Banco Comercial Português has become the latest peripheral issuer to launch a cash-for-covered bonds tender offer, offering to buy back up to Eu400m across covered bonds maturing in 2014, 2016, and 2017.

The Portuguese bank set a cash repurchase price of 90% for Eu1bn 3.75% October 2016 and Eu1.5bn 4.75% June 2017 notes, and 92% for Eu1bn 4.75% covered bonds due October 2014.

Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and Millennium bcp are joint dealer managers on the tender offer, which was launched last Thursday and closes this Friday.

A banker at one of the dealer managers said that the repurchase price on the 2016 and 2017 issues incorporates a market premium of 8-9 points, with a one point premium on offer for the 2014 covered bond.

JP Morgan analysts said that the offered prices are around 10-12 points above previous trading levels for the two longer dated bonds and flat to secondary levels for the 2014 bond.

The analysts last week said that secondary market activity has been high in peripheral covered bonds, with Portuguese and Italian covered bonds in particular very sought after as investors position themselves for potential tenders. For example, they said that several investors moved out of Caixa Geral de Depósitos tendered bonds into covered bonds of other Portuguese issuers that had yet to launch tender offers.

CGD on Friday closed a tender offer to buy back up to Eu750m across Eu1bn 2014 and Eu2.15bn 2016 covered bonds. Results were not yet available as The Covered Bond Report went to press.