It seems Ameron International’s acquisition by a Texas oil company probably won’t involve moving its Pasadena headquarters – at least for now – because the new owner wants to keep the company running at full speed.

On July 5, National Oilwell Varco in Houston announced a deal to buy the pipe maker for $772 million, or $85 per share. That represented a 28 percent premium over its closing price the previous trading day.

Terry Mackin, managing director at merger consultancy Generational Equity in Dallas, said Varco’s main reason for buying Ameron was its fiberglass pipe business. The pipes are used in deep oil-drilling operations, especially in sea water and shale fields where corrosion is a major problem for traditional steel pipes.

The big sales opportunities for fiberglass pipe are at shale oilfields in Oklahoma, Texas and Montana. Mackin said Varco needs to get Ameron’s products to clients as quickly as possible while the drilling boom in those fields remains active. A sudden drop in oil prices could end the boom because shale drilling is more expensive than conventional extraction.

“The objective of the buyer is paramount – namely, ramping up as quickly as possible in the oil market,” he said. “The companies that can move drillers to new locations across these fields the fastest get the most business and higher profits.”

Ameron, an industrial conglomerate that owns pipe manufacturing plants, a concrete construction firm, lamp pole factories and a windmill-building facility, employs about 2,400 workers worldwide. Fiberglass pipe accounted for $244 million of its 2010 revenue of $503 million, based on filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Neither Ameron nor Varco responded to requests for comments for this article.

Ameron’s sale follows a bitter proxy battle for a board seat. Activist investor James Mitarotonda, chief executive at Barington Capital in New York, won the seat in March.

Damien Park, president of Catalyst Investor Research in Philadelphia, said the new board member probably pushed the sale.

“Barington was certainly advocating for Ameron to examine several alternatives to enhance shareholder value, including a sale of the entire business,” Park said. “The boards of both companies unanimously approved the buyout. And since the per-share offer is higher than the company’s 52-week high, and near its two-year high, I suspect there will be few shareholders challenging the deal.”

In a joint statement, Ameron and Varco said they expect the acquisition to close before the end of 2011.

Mackin believes Varco will leave Ameron’s pipe operation in its current location, including the Pasadena headquarters, because moving would only disrupt production. However, the future of the other operations under the Ameron umbrella is less clear.

Announcing the deal last week, Varco Chief Executive Pete Miller said the water pipe and construction divisions will allow his company “to capitalize on leading positions in these industries.”

Mackin said infrastructure projects provide a good diversification strategy for Varco. He explained that oil, like other commodities, suffers wild price fluctuations, while infrastructure construction is usually funded by governments and delivers steady long-term income.

However, it’s also possible Varco will sell these businesses because infrastructure spending has been slowed by budget constraints at all levels of government.

“If Varco wanted to get rid of these infrastructure companies, I’m sure they’ll find a buyer once the states get their budgets under control,” Mackin said.

Brian Uhlmer, an analyst at Global Hunter Securities in Houston who follows Varco, said the smaller businesses will probably be sold off so Varco can concentrate on its main job of servicing oilfields.

“I expect them to divest some of their lighter businesses over time, such as the light pole and windmill manufacturing,” he said. “About 80 percent of Ameron’s operating income comes from the oil patch, which is why Varco is so interested in them.”

For investors, Ameron still might have some upside if another bidder appears.

Brent Thielman at Lake Oswego, Ore.’s D.A. Davidson & Co., the only analyst who covers Ameron, downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “buy” after the acquisition announcement, but he retained his target price of $90 per share, $5 more than the Varco offer. Since the announcement of the sale, Ameron stock has traded above the announced price.

“We are maintaining our price target of $90 as we believe there is still the potential for a moderately higher offer,” Thielman wrote in a note to investors July 5.