Microsoft Won’t Try to Kill PeopleSoft Bid

Microsoft Corp. isn’t interested in derailing Oracle Corp.’s $5.1-billion hostile bid for rival PeopleSoft Inc. with an offer of its own, a Microsoft executive said.

“Absolutely, we would not be pursuing PeopleSoft at this time,” said Lynne Stockstad, general manager of Microsoft’s business solutions group.

The Redmond, Wash.-based company also doesn’t plan to take on Oracle and PeopleSoft with programs that run accounting, customer management and human resources for large companies. Microsoft will sell those applications only to companies with less than $800 million in annual sales, Stockstad said.

Microsoft shares rose 93 cents to $24.68, Oracle rose 16 cents to $13.02 and PeopleSoft fell less than 1 cent to $17.90, all on Nasdaq.