Contractor Gleeson is set to take an equity stake in the company’s building division after it is sold off.

A spokesperson for the company this week confirmed that Gleeson would take a minority stake in the management buyout company, and that a member of Gleeson’s board would become a non-executive director.

The move comes despite the fact that last month Gleeson announced it was pulling out of construction because its main contracting division had racked up a £16.6m loss for the second half of last year.

At that time it was revealed that Martin Smout and Peter Stone, the division’s managing director and commercial director respectively, would buy the troubled business.

The spokesperson said: “The group doesn’t just want to cast the building division aside. There is a lot more work to be done on the deal but the group wants it to flourish.”

Smout and Stone declined to comment.

The disposal of the building division is expected to be completed by the end of June.