And there have been rumors of another unsolicited bid.

Meanwhile, a group that had made an unsolicited $469 million bid last week said it was withdrawing the offer.

As a result, unsolicited bids may become more common.

The announcement came a week after Church's rejected a $469 million unsolicited bid from an investors group.

A spokesman for C3 said its board would meet early next week to respond to the unsolicited bid.

Three weeks ago, Beazer started an unsolicited bid of $45 a share, or $1.3 billion, for the company.

The $48-a-share unsolicited bid is the first that Weyerhaeuser, the forest products giant, has ever made.

It is also the first unsolicited bid for a major phone company since the industry was deregulated last year.

The unsolicited bid by Rogers has been made directly to the shareholders and does not require the approval of the board.

So far this year, there have been 12 hostile or unsolicited bids, totaling $25 billion.