TOKYO, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The founding family of

Japanese IT firm Fuji Soft on Wednesday reiterated its

support for a takeover bid by private equity firm Bain Capital

that is opposed by Fuji Soft's board, it said in a statement

jointly released with Bain.

Amid a bidding war with rival private equity giant KKR

, Bain last week offered 9,600 yen per share, 1.6% more

than KKR's 9,451 yen bid, and on Wednesday went hostile after

Fuji Soft's board rejected the higher offer and supported KKR's.

Fuji Soft founder Hiroshi Nozawa joined Bain in questioning

the independence of the special committee set up by the board to

scrutinise the bid, saying he had "strong concern and distrust

regarding the process of selecting the members".

The special committee had "lost sight of the purpose of the

special committee," Nozawa and Bain said, adding that they had

"no intention to be hostile towards the executives and

management of Fuji Soft".

Fuji Soft declined to comment on the release. KKR was not

immediately available for comment.

Nozawa, who together with family members owns 18.6% of Fuji

Soft's shares, came out in support of Bain's bid in October and

at the time denounced the way the privatisation process had been

conducted.

KKR, which has the backing of the Fuji Soft board, secured

33.9% of the company's shares in a first-round tender that

managed to dodge an earlier bid from Bain that was at the time

higher than its own.

Fuji Soft rejected Bain's offer on the grounds that two

large shareholders would hamper management decision making and

Bain's tender offer would not conclude for three months.

Through its tender, Bain is aiming to acquire 50.1% of Fuji

Soft's shares - including the Nozawa family's stakes - and would

"manage the business in a way that respects the current

executives and management team," it said.