die tottsljington Thursday, July 16, 1981  
NEW YORK, July 15 ÛÓ With an ease that seems to border on abandon,major banks are putting together record-sized lines of credit for big companies that are stalking takeover targets and for slightly smaller concerns who might wield the credits to defend their independence.</br></br>Mobil Corp., which said it may be interested in buying beleaguered Conoco Inc., is arranging a $5 billion credit line through a syndicate of banks headed by Citibank.</br></br>E.I. du Pont de Nemours, which has made an offer for Conoco (and which is ConocoÛªs preferred suitor), arranged $3 billion in loan commitments last week and another $1 billion this week. Texaco reportedly has a line of credit of $5.5 billion it was putting together last week, while Pennzoil can draw up to $2.5 billion from its bankers. And Marathon Oil Co., said to be a takeover target, revealed today it is lining up a new credit line through a Chase Manhattan syndicate.</br></br>Conoco is taking no chances that White Knight Du Pont will give in to the Canadian distiller Seagram (which has made an ÛÏunfriendly5 bid for Conoco) or Mobil, should it make an offer. The Stamford, Conn.-based Conoca has arranged a $3 billion credit line of its own that could be used to buy its own stock in an attempt to thwart a takeover. Merely the threat that a company might turn a $3. billion line of credit into a $3 billion liability is enough to turn some potential buyers off (although apparently not Seagram, which is in the middle of a hot bidding war with Du Pont).	; "</br></br>For the most part, the companies, whether pursuer or pursued, are all knocking on the same doors. ÛÏThe faces in each of the syndicates are the same. WeÛªre involved in every one of the big deals youÛªve read about in the newspapers,Û said the