France is selling its telephone equipment maker.

Cie Generale de Constructions Telephoniques was put on the block as part of the conservative government’s sweeping privatization program. Finance Minister Edouard Balladur said an earlier selloff of a state company, Cie Financiere de Paribas banking group, had been so successful that the government was being obliged to scale down its allocation of shares to small investors. The government’s asking price for CGCT, which holds a 16% share of France’s telephone switching market, is $85.5 million.