The proposed buyer of Tasmanian dairy giant Van Diemen's Land Company (VDL) is Moon Lake Investments, an Australian company set up specifically for the purchase by Chinese businessman Lu Xianfeng.

It was announced last week that an unnamed foreign, privately owned company had made the $280 million bid for Australia's largest and oldest dairy farming company and paid a $20 million non-refundable deposit.

Melbourne-based company TasFood Limited (TFL) had already made a bid for the company and is now engaged in legal proceedings with VDL's parent company Taranaki Investment Management Limited to stop the sale going ahead.

Mr Lu is the managing director and executive chairman of blind company Kresta Holdings, responsible for 700 staff Australia-wide and in New Zealand.

He is also the founder and largest shareholder of Ningbo Xianfeng New Material, which is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of $1.52 billion.

In a statement Mr Lu said he travelled extensively but spent a significant amount of time in Australia.

He said he intended to work with existing management and continue to supply to the local market.

The Moon Lake offer is binding and subject to the approval of the Foreign Investment Review Board.

The statement said the current owner, New Plymouth District Council (NPDC), took into account a number of other factors, including the financial capacity of Moon Lake Investments to complete the transaction, assurances around retention of existing staff and the company's commitment to expansion.

We already had a deal: TasFoods

Competing company TasFoods Limited (TFL) launched legal action over its failed bid to takeover VDL on Monday.

VDL sale timeline: Deal struck for VDL sale to TasFoods on November 6

Deal struck for VDL sale to TasFoods on November 6 TasFoods deal "in excess of $280 million"

TasFoods deal "in excess of $280 million" NPDC announces new buyer with "commercially superior" bid on November 20

NPDC announces new buyer with "commercially superior" bid on November 20 TasFoods launches legal action over failed deal

TasFoods launches legal action over failed deal Chinese businessman revealed as buyer on November 26

Late last week NPDC announced it was going back on its agreement with the Melbourne-based company in favour of a new bid from an unnamed foreign private company.

TFL director Hugh Robertson said his company already had a deal.

"Here is a company that for 190 years has never been owned by Australians and run by Tasmanians, and we think we had a deal and we intend to continue to press our case accordingly," he said.

Mr Robertson said he was not surprised to learn the unnamed bidder was a Chinese businessman and said he was more concerned about the reticence of NPDC to disclose his identity.

"One of our strong selling points of TasFoods was that it was good to see Australian institutional and other shareholders being given the opportunity to invest in a unique Australian asset, with the potential for branding," he said.

Sale suspended as legal action launched

The new agreement is conditional upon Foreign Investment Review Board approval.

A Supreme Court judge in Victoria upheld an injunction suspending the sale to the unknown foreign buyer, after TFL alleged its own contract to buy the company was breached.

The judge ordered the defendants to provide TasFood's lawyers with details of its sale contract with the foreign buyer by 4:15pm Thursday.

NPDC said the offer from the private company was "commercially superior" to the bid from TasFoods.

But TasFoods said the new agreement was less valuable.

In a statement on the ASX, TasFoods said the price agreed in the deal struck with the foreign buyer was less than its bid, which was in excess of $280 million.