January 15, 2010 (FinancialWire) — Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) said that it has eliminated the final $24 million of certain letters of credit it maintained on behalf of its former parent company, Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA-B).

company CFO Tom Casey said that eliminating the final $24 million of credit exposure, “frees up cash and helps our liquidity.” He added that the company was able to eliminate a previous $51 million of letter of credit exposure with Viacom in 2009, and raised $675 million on a bond offering to extend its debt maturities into 2014.

The letters of credit were maintained by Blockbuster for Viacom’s benefit to cover Viacom’s potential liability under certain Blockbuster store leases under arrangements made in connection with Blockbuster’s split off from Viacom in 2004.

Blockbuster provides rental and retail movie and game entertainment.

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