"That was the first communication from PeopleSoft wanting to discuss" Oracle's bid, first made 18 months ago, he said.

Pound refused to discuss Fox's bid, but said cryptically: "When you're in a position to get two pre-emptive bids, you don't shop them around."

Mr. Diller declined to discuss his bid.

In discussing Warnaco's bid last spring to acquire Authentic, the article said that "to many, it smacked of self-dealing."

Mr. Haft also said that he would request a meeting with officials of the Minneapolis-based department store chain to discuss his family's bid.

No Spinoff Is Planned "I would not spin off anything," Mr. Trump said in discussing his bid.

Mr. Taubman declined to discuss his bid to purchase Madame Chiang's seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom apartment.

Talking Softkey International and the Learning Company confirmed that they were discussing Softkey's $606 million hostile bid.

Cain is discussing his bid for the Republican nomination at the American Enterprise Institute today and we will be live blogging the event.

First Bank System would not discuss its bid.