Freddie Mac Announces $30 Billion Tender Of Near-Term Debt

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Freddie Mac (FRE) on Monday announced plans to repurchase up to $30 billion of debt securities coming due in the next 15 months as the mortgage giant continues to deal with surging loan losses.

The debt currently has $69.9 billion in principal outstanding. The tender offer expires at 5 p.m., EDT, Friday.

Freddie last month reported a loss of $9.85 billion for the first quarter as mortgage-defaults costs mount and said it will need another $6.1 billion of capital from the Treasury Department.

The company didn't say Monday in a statement why it was making the offering and from where the funds would come. A company spokesman wasn't available to comment.

Federal regulators seized control of Freddie and larger peer Fannie Mae (FNM), the two main providers of funds for U.S. home mortgages, in September as growing losses ate through their thin layers of capital. The Treasury has agreed to provide as much as $200 billion of capital apiece to Fannie and Freddie by purchasing preferred stock paying 10% dividends. With its latest request, that would bring Freddie's total to about $51 billion.

-By Kevin Kingsbury, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2136; [e-mail]