(Photo : Bright Food Group of China)

Tnuva, the largest food distributor and manufacturer in Israel, is now talking with Bright Food Group of China for possible acquisition deals. One newspaper reported that the deal could fetch an amount of up to $1.6 billion once both companies come to an agreement.

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Pan Jianjun, a spokesperson from Bright Food said that they just started with the negotiations and that both companies are still talking.

Another private equity from Britain, Apax Partners, has a 56 percent share of Tnuva. The company mainly focuses on production of milk and dairy items, fish, chicken and eggs, and vegetables. While another Israeli company, Mivtach Shamir, an investment firm, hold 20.7 percent of Tnuva, and a kibbutzim group of agricultural society has 26.3 percent of the shares.

In 2008, when Mivtach Shamir and Apax took over Tnuva, the acquisition cost of the company was estimated around $989 million. In a recent report from a Chinese newspaper, the latest estimates for the deal could around $1.63 billion or 10 billion yuan.

A representative from Apax said they are not going to release a comment for the mean time.

Apax products take 14 percent of shelf spaces in supermarkets in Israel, according to the company's estimates. Their approach usually attracts other companies who wish to buy stakes from Tnuva. In a statement, Apax conducts studies on their approach, but has cleared that they have not come up with negotiations.

Over the past few years, Bright Foods Group has already acquired many foreign brands, including Synlait Milk Ltd of New Zealand, and Manassen Foods and France's Diva of Australia, in its quest to reach global markets.

The company also owns 60 percent of Weetabix Food, a British cereal brand. The shares were bought for an estimated 1.2 billion pounds, and it said to be one of the largest deals made by a Chinese food company to a foreign brand.