French telecoms giant, Orange and its rival Bouygues Telecom, Friday called off takeover talks at the eleventh hour after both firms failed to agree on a proposed deal worth 10 billion euros ($11.4 billion).
'A stand-off between Martin Bouygues and French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron about the clout the billionaire would have gained in the former state monopoly had weighed on the talks', according to Reuters citing a source close to the deal.
FT reported that shares of Orange fell by 2 per cent after the news broke out while Bouygues shares fared even worse, falling as much as 3.8 per cent.
