Landry's Restaurants Inc Chief Executive Tilman Fertitta's $1.4 billion bid for the seafood restaurant operator received the support of a crucial shareholder on Sunday, the Wall Street Journal said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

U.S. hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, which has control of just under 25 percent of Landry's stock, has agreed to vote its shares in favor of Fertitta's buyout offer in exchange for Fertitta raising his bid to $24.50 per share from $24 a share, the paper said.

The new deal has received the support of Landry's special committee, the paper said.

Fertitta's two-year-long bid to take Landry's private has been resisted in the past by both the company's board and shareholders including Pershing Square, which is headed by activist investor William Ackman.

Last month, Fertitta, who owned about 55 percent of Landry's stock as of May 23, sweetened his bid to buy all of Landry's outstanding stock that he didn't already own.

Landry's and Pershing Square could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.

Shares of Landry's, which operates the iconic Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and several casual dining outlets including Landry's Seafood House, closed at $23.94 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Anne Pallivathuckal in Bangalore; Editing by Louise Heavens)