BERLIN (Reuters) - Private equity firm Hellman & Friedman said on Wednesday that it had secured only a 30.46% stake in German online pet supplies retailer Zooplus as of Tuesday evening, heightening the prospect of the 3.7-billion-euro ($4.29 billion) takeover deal falling through. For the deal to happen, the shareholder acceptance rate needs to reach more than 50% before the takeover offer expires at the end of Wednesday, the supplier of pets’ food brands such as Eukanuba, Pedigree and Royal Canin had said. Zooplus had strongly recommended investors accept the joint cash offer from Hellman & Friedman and EQT Private Equity, which had initially fought a bidding war but then teamed up to buy the retailer. ($1 = 0.8630 euros) Reporting by Alexander Huebner, Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Riham Alkousaa