Neil Woodford increases stake in construction giant Kier after chief executive’s departure
Neil Woodford has upped his stake in troubled construction outsourcer Kier Group by millions of pounds in the wake of the firm’s chief executive resigning yesterday.
The veteran investor, a leading stakeholder in the firm, had been pressing for changes at executive level in the company after a botched rights issue drove its value to record lows at the end of last year.
Read more: Kier Group boss leaves struggling outsourcer ‘with immediate effect’
According to a regulatory news announcement Woodford’s investment firm upped its stake in Kier voting rights from 14.16 per cent to 15.01 per cent yesterday.
Woodford investment management now holds £128m of Kier’s £850m value.
Woodford declined to comment directly on chief executive Haydn Mursell’s departure, but yesterday’s acquisition, worth roughly £7.28m, would indicate he approved of the move.
Kier chief executive Haydn Mursell said yesterday he would stand down as chief executive and from the board of directors as the firm searches for his successor.
The news came after Kier issued a share issue that was met with little enthusiasm in December, with investors taking up just 38 per cent of the new shares as banks struggled to offload the rest.
The botched issue sent Kier’s shares plummeting as investors fear another Carillion collapse a year after the outsourcer fell to its knees.
Read more: Kier operations director leaves firm for Grenfell cladding company
"The board believes that, following the completion of the recent rights issue, now is the right time for a new leader to take Kier forward to the next stage of its development,” Cox said.
“The board would like to thank Haydn for his contribution during eight years on the Board, firstly as finance director and then as chief executive. On behalf of the Board, I would like to wish him every success in the future.”
It came as Kier said it remains on track to meet full year expectations in a trading update yesterday.