The investment firm of the City fund manager Neil Woodford and other big shareholders in Kier Group are pressing for executive changes after its sudden rights issue.
Woodford Investment Management, which has recently topped up its stake in Kier, is among a group of investors said to be raising questions over Haydn Mursell, Kier’s chief executive, and Bev Dew, its finance director.
The company surprised the market with a deeply discounted £264m rights issue in November. The uptake was embarrassing with only 38% of the issue taken up by shareholders, the lowest percentage for a UK rights issue since 2012, after shares in Kier fell below the issue price, meaning investors were able to buy them on the open market at an even sharper discount.
