UK buyout group Apax Partners is set to close the largest deal in Israel after partnering with a local investor in a move that helped seal the $1bn (€682m) transaction, which has been a year in the pipeline.

Apax has taken a 76.7% stake in Tnuva Marketing Cooperative, Israel’s largest food producer with a 70% market share of the country's dairy market, in a deal valuing the business at $989m.