Japan's Supreme Court rejected an appeal by U.S. hedge fund Steel Partners on Tuesday to prevent Worcester sauce maker Bull-Dog from invoking anti-takeover measures.

Steel Partners Japan Strategic Fund (Offshore) L.P., Bull-Dog's top shareholder, launched a $260 million unsolicited tender offer for the Japanese company in May.

Bull-Dog became the first Japanese company to issue equity warrants under its anti-takeover "poison pill' defense on July 11.　Steel Partners originally called for a request to block the measure, but the Tokyo District Court and Tokyo High Court rejected the request ahead of Tuesday's decision.

On Thursday Bull-Dog will allocate new shares for shareholders but not Steel Partners. As a result, Steel Partners' shareholding ratio will be reduced to around 3 percent from 10 percent.

The lower courts had turned down Steel Partners' request, characterizing the hedge fund as an abusive bidder.

Japan Investment