WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark Corp. has had enough shareholders accept its buyout bid for Longs Drug Stores Corp. to guarantee the deal will close.

Still, the company again extended the tender offer by one day, until 6 p.m. EST today, in order to buy the company's remaining stock.

CVS previously extended the $71.50-per-share tender offer until last night after it came up just short on gaining the approval of holders of two-thirds of Longs' shares. CVS now owns just under 77.6 percent of Longs stock, giving it enough ownership to close the buyout.

"We are extremely pleased that Longs shareholders have determined to tender more than 77 percent of Longs shares into our offer," CVS Chairman and President Tom Ryan said in a statement.

"We are extending our tender offer merely to ensure completion of the share delivery process, and we look forward to closing the transaction."

The news comes a week after Walgreen Co. dropped its $2.8 billion bid for the company. Longs had already accepted CVS's offer, but several shareholders considered it too low and pushed for the company to consider Walgreen as a suitor. But some questioned whether Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreen would face antitrust issues because of overlap between its West Coast stores and those of Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Longs. Longs has 521 stores in four Western states, including 39 in Hawai'i.

The CVS-Longs deal has already cleared antitrust review. Shares of CVS closed at $28.12 while shares of Longs closed at $71.44 in Thursday. Walgreen shares closed at $23.51.