KAISA Group Holdings Ltd. yesterday said it planned to spend US$322 million buying 19 percent of blood products firm Zhenxing Biopharmaceutical & Chemical Co., as the once-troubled property developer continues to diversify.

Shenzhen-based Kaisa earns more than 90 percent of revenue from property but is active in a range of industries such as tourism and technology, and has businesses up and down the health care supply chain.

The group made headlines when it was unable to report 2014 earnings after authorities blocked the sale of some of its properties. That lead to it becoming the first mainland property developer to default on offshore bonds.

With its debt restructured and sales block lifted, it recovered to post record contracted property sales last year, exceeding its last reported sales in 2013 by about 25 percent.

Kaisa said yesterday unit Shenzhen Shipping Health Technology Co. would buy an 18.57 percent stake in Zhenxing Biopharmaceutical from Zhenxing Group Co. for 2.19 billion yuan (US$331.87 million), funded through internal resources.

Zhenxing Biopharmaceutical produces human serum albumin and human immunoglobulin.

“The acquisition represents a good investment,” chairman Kwok Ying-shing said. “Income from the sales of blood products ... will create sustainable returns for the company’s shareholders and expand the company’s presence in the health care industry.”

The group has said it expects to return to profit in 2017. Earlier this month, it recorded total contracted property sales of about 4.36 billion yuan for October, up 16.9 percent from the same month a year earlier.

(SD-Agencies)