China's Bright Food Group Co has struck a deal to buy control of Israel's largest food company, gaining new products and technology as it chases rivals that have overtaken it in China's fast-growing cheese and dairy markets.

Under terms of a preliminary accord, Bright Food said on Thursday it will buy 56 percent of dairy firm Tnuva from private equity house Apax for an undisclosed sum.

A person familiar with the transaction said it values all of Tnuva at about $2.5 billion, up from $1 billion when Apax and Israeli investor Mivtach Shamir Holdings took control in 2008.

The deal, the latest in a multi-billion dollar overseas acquisition spree by Bright Food, will give the Shanghai-headquartered firm access to both new cheeses and the Israeli firm's technological know-how in dairy production, trade sources and analysts said.

Best known for its cottage cheese, Tel Aviv-based Tnuva booked 2013 revenue of 7.17 billion shekels ($2.05 billion) supplying a range of cheeses, as well as milk, yoghurt, meat and eggs.

The investment comes as increasingly affluent Chinese consumers opt to pay more for imported goods in the wake of safety scandals in local food supply chains. The Chinese cheese market will be worth 2.7 billion yuan ($433.13 million) this year, according to consultancy Euromonitor.

The deal could also give Bright Food access to Tnuva's dairy processing technology, analysts said. Bright Food was China's fourth-biggest dairy producer last year by retail value.

Bright Food owns four mainland-listed companies including Shanghai Jinfeng Wine Co, Shanghai Haibo Co, Shanghai Maling Aquarius Co and Bright Dairy & Food Co.