Microsoft said to be considering a bid for Salesforce

Less than a week after rumors surfaced that Salesforce.com is fielding buyout offers, Microsoft is reportedly considering throwing its hat in the ring.

Although Microsoft isn't in talks with Salesforce and a deal isn't imminent, Microsoft is evaluating making a bid for the cloud CRM provider after it was approached by another potential buyer, Bloomberg reported Tuesday afternoon.

Salesforce is working with two investment banks to decide how to respond to acquisition offers, and its options range from rejecting all bids to working out a deal, according to Bloomberg, whose information comes from anonymous sources.

Bloomberg first reported last week that Salesforce was working with financial advisors to field bids after it was approached by a potential buyer.

Salesforce has a market capitalization of almost $50 billion, so it could be the target of the largest software acquisition ever.

Microsoft's Dynamics CRM software competes with Salesforce's, although the companies struck a deal a year ago to tightly integrate Salesforce's cloud software with Microsoft's Windows OS and Office 365 cloud email and productivity suite.

Industry observers have speculated other companies that might be interested in acquiring Salesforce include Oracle, IBM and HP.

Neither Salesforce nor Microsoft immediately responded to requests for comment on the Bloomberg report.

Juan Carlos Perez covers enterprise communication/collaboration suites, operating systems, browsers and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Juan on Twitter at @JuanCPerezIDG.