OSLO/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German drug firm Bayer (>> Bayer AG) has clinched a $2.9 billion (1.7 billion pounds) deal to take over Norwegian cancer drug maker Algeta (>> Algeta ASA) after being tendered 92.17 percent of the shares in a cash offer, the companies said on Monday.

Bayer extended the acceptance deadline by two days to Wednesday, February 26, to eliminate any remaining uncertainty.

"The acceptance ratio is based on preliminary figures and may be subject to change", a Bayer spokesman said.

Bayer reiterated it expected the deal to close in the first quarter.

Bayer bid for Algeta late last year to gain outright control over novel prostate cancer drug Xofigo which the two have developed jointly since 2009 and started selling in the United States in 2013. The drug also won European approval in November.

In December, Bayer won backing from the target's board for an increased $2.9 billion offer for the Norwegian company, which is contingent on Bayer being tendered 90 percent of Algeta's share capital.

($1 = 6.0788 Norwegian krones)

(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi and Ludwig Burger; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Maria Sheahan)

Stocks treated in this article : Bayer AG, Algeta ASA