China's Bright Food (Group) Co Ltd has signed a deal to buy 56 percent of Tnuva from private equity firm Apax and Partners in a deal valuing Israel's largest food company at 8.6 billion shekels ($2.5 billion), Israeli news websites reported late on Wednesday.
Bright Food has not yet reached an agreement with Israeli investment company Mivtach Shamir Holdings Ltd, which owns 21 percent of Tnuva, the Calcalist website said. A group of kibbutzim, or cooperative farms, own the rest of Tnuva, a dairy specialist.
Company officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Bright Food confirmed last September that it was in talks to acquire control of Tnuva.
When Apax and Mivtach Shamir acquired control of Tnuva in 2008, the company was valued at $989 million.
