Martin Bouygues

sticking points: The deal worth an estimated 10 billion euros would have seen considerable concentration of the market, in which Orange holds 38.8 percent, with Bouygues in third position with 16.3 percent, according to Deutsche Welle. Sources said that the valuation of the two companies was one of the main sticking points in the talks and would have resulted in the number of mobile operators in France dropping to three from the current four. Shares in Orange also dropped, falling 5.2 percent after the French telecommunications market leader said Friday it decided "to end discussions" with Bouygues for a merger. Monster deal' Bouygues chairman Martin Bouygues told French daily Le Figaro online edition that three of France big players had wanted the merger to succeed but the fourth, whom he did not name, had put a spanner in the works. "There were four of us around the negotiating table, but only three of us wanted to make it work," he said in remarks published Monday. "Clearly one the players had the ambition to get the most while paying the least, with the option of pulling out." Asked whether he meant Iliad founder Xavier Niel, Bouygues said: "Everyone is entitled to their own interpretation." The valuation of the two companies, Orange and Bouygues, was one of the main sticking points in the talks, sources said. The French state, which still owns 23 percent in Orange, the successor to the national phone operator, played a key role in the outcome of the talks. "The state wanted Orange shares to be valued at a price much higher than at the market" and imposed conditions that were likely to be difficult for the Bouygues group to accept, a person familiar with the talks told Le Figaro. "It got so complex that it failed. The two companies announced publicly in January they were holding talks - the second time they have considered a tie-up, and the fifth attempt in two years to consolidate the market where operators have been slashing prices to capture customers. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.