SHAREHOLDERS in telecoms company Orange may have to wait for up to a year to discover if its parent company will take it back into private ownership.

France Telecom was rumoured to be staging a share exchange to regain control of Orange, which employs 5,000 staff in the North-East of England.

The company refused to comment on national Press speculation at the weekend that France Telecom planned to acquire the 13 per cent of Orange still in the public domain, and then de-list it from stock exchanges in Paris and London.

But the French government is already taking steps to relax its grip on the part state-owned France Telecom.

It has a 59 per cent stake in the firm, but is under pressure from Brussels to reduce that to less than 50 per cent.

To do so, it must get Parliamentary approval and assurances that civil service staff who work for the company will have their pay and rights protected.

A bill has been adopted which, if passed by the French Parliament, would allow the Government to reduce its interest in the company.

Experts suggest the best way to achieve this would be a shares exchange.

It would take between six months and a year for the adopted bill to become legislation.

Offering a stake in France Telecom to Orange shareholders would serve the dual purpose of reducing the Government's interest while acquiring full ownership of the thriving subsidiary.

Ian Pluves, director at Brewin Dolphin stockbrokers in Newcastle, said such a move would be unlikely to detrimentally affect Orange's staff and shareholders.

"The impact on shareholders is probably minimal, depending on the price France Telecom is prepared to pay if it takes Orange back under its umbrella," he said. "Will it make a huge difference to employees? Probably not."

An Orange spokeswoman said newspaper reports that the deal to de-list Orange could be done as soon as next month were "completely unfounded".

A spokeswoman for France Telecom said: "The draft law is the beginning stage of a lengthy process of approval. It will eventually allow the state stake in France Telecom to drop below 50 per cent."

She would not comment on whether a swap for Orange shares would be used to help the Government's stake below that mark.