John Maneely Co., which owns Wheatland Tube Co., said Thursday it is in talks to sell the entire company to Tyco International Ltd., a $30 billion conglomerate.

While saying the deal still has a long way to go, if the companies reach a deal and it gets proper regulatory approval, a sale could be in hand by year’s end, said Jim Feeney, senior vice president of operations for Wheatland Tube.

No initial sale price was released.

"It has to go through a lot of internal investigation and due diligence,’’ Feeney said. "We haven’t had many sit-down negotiations with them to amount to much.’’

John Maneely, a tightly controlled company with 18 shareholders from the O’Donnell family of Philadelphia, received an unsolicited offer from Tyco two months ago, Feeney said.

"We did not have the company out in play with investment bankers,’’ he said.

Headquartered in Collingswood, N.J., John Maneely employs 1,500 and its biggest division is local Wheatland Tube, which has 600 workers.

A pipe, tube and fittings manufacturer, John Maneely would be a good fit for Tyco, Feeney said.

Tyco operates pipe and tube plants in Philadelphia, California, Harvey, Ill., and Texas while John Maneely has plants in Pittsburgh, Houston, Chicago and Little Rock, and Cambridge, Ohio. It shouldn’t be confused with the children’s toymaker that shares the same name.

One Tyco company, Allied Tube & Conduit, is a competitor of Wheatland Tube.

Feeney was upbeat about Tyco as an operator.

"Tyco is a very well managed company,’’ he said. "It’s a growth company that has done very, very well in the market assembling companies.’’

If the deal were to be completed Feeney said it could help the Wheatland plant.

"I think there’s a good chance production could be increased,’’ he said. "That’s just a gut feeling on my part. It’s cer-

tainly not going to decrease in my opinion.’’

Dominic Vadala, president of United Steelworkers Local 1660, which represents 475 workers at Wheatland Tube, said the union was informed of the pending sale earlier this week.

Should Wheatland Tube be bought, the local has a successor clause in its labor contract whereby Tyco would have to honor terms of the contract, Vadala said.

He added he was taking a calm approach to the potential sale.

"I don’t think there’s any reason right now to get excited or worried,’’ Vadala said.

Headquartered in Bermuda but managed from Exeter, N.H., Tyco is a huge company with widely diversified operations, ranging from bandages, sewage plants, smoke alarms, plastic coat hangers and microchips.

Founded in 1960 and publicly held since 1964, Tyco originally started out as a research lab and then began moving into other ventures.

Tyco’s chairman and chief executive officer, Dennis Kozlowski, has guided the company on an ambitious buying binge during his eight-year tenure. During that period he has cobbled together 200 major purchases with his most recent one, medical-equipment maker Mallinckrodt, being purchased for $4.2 billion earlier this year.

Tyco often issues new stock to pay for deals. During Kozlowski’s reign, Tyco’s earnings have risen 40-fold but its stock has remained flat over the past year.

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