Rumors that all is not well at China’s leading private health company, United Family Healthcare (UFH), have been circulating since last year.

But now, a New-York listed affiliate of technology conglomerate New Frontier Group has emerged to give the ailing giant a timely shot in the arm.

The affiliate has agreed to purchase UFH for $1.44 billion with a view to publicly listing it on the New York Stock Exchange, according to an official release published Tuesday.

The move is widely interpreted as effectively allowing some of UFH’s shareholders, which include affiliates of global private equity firm TPG Capital and Chinese giant Fosun Pharma, to cash out as China’s health care sector increasingly moves toward high-tech-driven equipment development and drug R&D.

The announcement didn’t give details about UFH’s financial performance. However, Healthy Harmony Healthcare — the major company behind UFH’s shares — reported losses for 2018 and the first five months of 2019.

Once the deal is completed, UFH, which currently has nine hospitals across China, will be poised to raise much-needed capital to better compete with rivals, including Chinese public hospitals that are increasingly offering high-end health-check services. The company may also seek to expand its service to markets in China’s lower-tier cities that the company has yet to effectively penetrate.

Fosun’s Shanghai and Hong Kong-listed pharmaceutical arm had fallen around 1% as of Wednesday morning on both bourses, despite the company saying it expected to pocket 1.65 billion yuan ($240 million) from the deal to alleviate debt and liquidity pressure. TPG had not responded to Caixin’s request for comment by the time of publication.

Contact reporter Zhao Runhua (runhuazhao@caixin.com)

Related: Trade Tensions Leave Fosun Rethinking U.S. Biotech Investment