(Reuters) - Jarden Corp (>> Jarden Corp), owner of Sunbeam kitchen appliances and Coleman outdoor gear, said it would buy Jostens Inc, a maker of class rings and yearbooks, in a deal worth $1.5 billion.

Jostens is owned by Visant Holding Corp, which is managed by investment firm KKR & Co LP (>> KKR & Co. L.P.), aPriori Capital Partners and others.

Visant also owns school awards maker Neff Motivation Inc and Phoenix Color Corp, which makes books and plastic covers. Jostens, founded by Otto Josten in 1897, also makes championship rings, caps and graduation gowns, and varsity jackets.

Jarden expects to first grow Jostens organically, taking advantage of its existing capabilities, Martin E. Franklin, Jarden's founder and chairman, said in an interview.

"There is a procurement platform in Jarden that is second to none and can help Jostens get better products, higher quality and better pricing, that we think we will drive top-line."

Longer term, the company will consider further acquisitions in education, a mature industry Jarden expects to further consolidate.

The company generates annual revenue of about $740 million.

This is Jarden's second large acquisition this year. It said in July it would buy disposable tableware maker Waddington Group for $1.35 billion.

Franklin has built the company through acquisitions, making it one of the largest diversified consumer products makers in the United States, selling everything from firewood to condoms.

Jarden said Jostens will add to adjusted earnings per share in 2016 and will be reported as part of Jarden's outdoor solutions segment.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Jarden's shares were up 1 percent at $51.21 in afternoon trading in New York on Wednesday.

Barclays and Morgan Stanley & Co LLC were financial advisers to Jarden and Kane Kessler, P.C. was legal adviser. Jefferies LLC was financial adviser to Visant and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP the legal adviser.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru and Lauren Hirsch in New York; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Frances Kerry)

Stocks treated in this article : Jarden Corp, KKR & Co. L.P.