Japanese restaurant chain operator Colowide Co. said Wednesday it has raised its stake in struggling dining chain Ootoya Holdings Co. to 46.77 percent following a hostile takeover bid.

Colowide, which runs a wide range of Japanese-style pubs and restaurants including the grilled beef eatery Gyu-Kaku, has said it plans to immediately send new directors to Ootoya after an extraordinary shareholders' meeting to turn around the latter's business following the takeover bid launched in July and extended in late August.

Colowide said the tender offer successfully ended Tuesday after it received enough offers from Ootoya shareholders to raise its stake in the set-menu eatery above the targeted lower limit of 40 percent.

==Kyodo

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