Bouygues to Cut 1,516 Phone Jobs After Merger Talks Fail

Bouygues SA plans to eliminate 17 percent of the jobs at its telecommunications unit after merger talks with Orange SA and separately with Iliad SA failed. Bouygues shares fell 6.3 percent.

Bouygues Telecom, France’s third-largest mobile-phone company, will cut 1,516 positions. Discussions with Iliad and Orange in the past two months were inconclusive, said Olivier Roussat, the unit’s chief executive officer. This year, Bouygues Telecom was outbid by rivals to acquire Vivendi SA’s SFR phone business and Virgin Mobile.