ORA Orange.

By Inti Landauro

PARIS--The French government sold a 1.9% stake in the country's former telecommunications monopoly Orange SA (ORA.FR) in a private placement for 584 million euros ($736 million), government state-owned bank BPI said Wednesday.

BPI said the government sold the stake at EUR11.60 a share in a private placement, or 2.6% below market price.

Orange shares were 2.7% lower at EUR11.59 at 0828 GMT Wednesday.

Write to Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@wsj.com

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires