TEXACO SEES BUSINESS LITTLE HIT BY BANKRUPTCY MOVE Texaco Inc <TX> said its decision to file for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy code will not affect the majority of its businesses. It said its subsidiaries, which account for 96 pct of its 32.6 billion dlrs in revenues and 79 pct of its net property, plant and equipment, were free of the action. Only parent holding company, Texaco Inc, and operating subsidiaries, Texaco Capital Inc and Texaco Capital N.V, are affected, it said. But the company said it was likely to suspend its 75 cents per share quarterly common stock dividend and halt repayments on debts of some 6.8 billion dlrs. Texaco said it filed for Chaper 11 because suppliers were demanding cash payments and banks were withholding loans as a result of a legal dispute with Pennzoil Co <PZL>. Texaco is fighting a Texas law requiring it to post a bond of more than 10 billion dlrs before it can appeal a 1985 judgment that ruled it illegally interfered with Pennzoil's 1984 acquisition of Getty Petroleum Corp <GTY>. The bond almost matches the damages awarded against Texaco. Should Texaco fail to place the bond, Pennzoil could begin to attach its assets to secure the judgment. Last Monday, the Supreme Court overturned a decision to cut Texaco's bond to one billion dlrs, and sent the issue back to the Texas courts. Analysts said the bankruptcy filing effectively froze all Texaco's obligations while it continued to appeal the merits of the Pennzoil lawsuit. "Attempts last week to win a compromise on both the bond issue and the larger dispute failed," James Kinnear, Texaco's president and chief executive officer, told reporters. Kinnear said Pennzoil's disclosure in court papers on Friday that it wanted to extend the bond issue hearing until the end of April, pushed Texaco further towards Chapter 11. Pennzoil had asked Texaco to post a 5.6 billion dlr cash bond and to reduce its dividend to not more than 50 pct of earnings. Pennzoil also wanted assurances that Texaco would not sell any assets, Kinnear said. Texaco offered to put up one billion dlrs in a letter of credit and agreed not to let the value of its assets fall under 11.1 billion dlrs, he added. Joseph Jamail, a Houston attorney for Pennzoil, said the company had made its latest settlement offer to Texaco on Saturday and was taken by surprise when Texaco filed for bankruptcy. He declined to reveal the amount of the proposal, citing a confidentiality agreement between the two companies. "Texaco told us they would get back to us but instead they chose to go to bankruptcy court," Jamail said. Attorneys for Pennzoil said they believed the company would prevail in court appeals, adding that Texaco's assets were ample ultimately to pay the Pennzoil judgment in full.