PARIS - French oil and gas company Total has cut its stake in pharmaceuticals group Sanofi-Aventis to under 10 percent, French market regulator AMF said in a statement on Wednesday.

Total now holds 9.99 percent of the capital and 16.23 percent of the voting rights in Sanofi-Aventis.

A Total spokeswoman said the company had held 10.9 percent of Sanofi-Aventis's capital as of the end of March. (Reporting by Helen Massy-Beresford and Jean-Michel Belot; editing by Mike Nesbit)