STOCK WATCH

CONSTRUCTION contractor Kier Group has kicked off a £241m share sale.

Boss Andrew Davies said the fundraising – announced in April – would be the ‘final milestone’ of a restructuring that began in 2019. Kier will put the cash towards paying its £436m debts and bolstering its balance sheet. It comes weeks after the firm sold its housebuilding arm to a firm owned by financier and Terra Firma founder Guy Hands for £110m.

Kier shares rose 20.3pc, or 20.8p, to 123.2p.