Jostens

History

Otto Josten founded the company as a watch-repair business in Owatonna in 1897. Jostens (then called "Josten's" the apostrophe was later dropped) began manufacturing emblems and awards for nearby schools. In 1906, its year of incorporation, Josten added class rings to his product line, the market being the Midwest. Jostens created the American Yearbook Company in 1950, later merging it under the Jostens brand.

In 2003, Jostens was acquired by private equity firm DLJ Merchant Banking, a subsidiary of aPriori Capital Partners. The following year, in 2004, DLJ and KKR formed Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Visant Corporation.

On October 14, 2015, consumer products manufacturer Jarden acquired Jostens from Visant Corporation, stating that it planned to take advantage of synergies with its other properties (particularly Rawlings and Yankee Candle), and "turn it into a true consumer-product business, as opposed to it historically being run like a printing asset".

Jarden merged with Newell Rubbermaid in 2016 to form Newell Brands. In 2018, Newell Brands sold Jostens to Platinum Equity for $1.3 billion.

Products

Jostens is the primary supplier of Super Bowl rings, having made 37 of the 57 championship rings as of 2024.

In April 2015, Jostens launched the world's first Adobe InDesign streaming partnership with Adobe Inc., called "Monarch," at the Journalism Education Association spring convention in Denver.

References

References

1. "Community Involvement | Jostens".
2. Farhad Manjoo. (28 May 2013). "Most Likely to Succeed". [[The Slate Group]].
3. Ki Mae Heussner. (25 September 2012). "With $3.6M, TreeRing revives the yearbook for the Facebook generation". [[GigaOM]].
4. Barmash, Isadore. (2003). "A Not-So-Tender Offer". Beard Books.
5. Harmon, Michael. (2005). "The Savvy Guide to Fantasy Sports". Indy Tech Publishing.
6. Robinson, Melia. "Here are the extravagant rings given to Super Bowl champions over the years".
7. Hooper, Michael. (January 27, 2007). "Jostens Inc. partners with Disney". [[Topeka Capitol-Journal]].
8. (18 April 2014). "Jostens looks into expanding operations in Owatonna".
9. "History of Jostens, Inc. – FundingUniverse".
10. "History of Jostens, Inc. – FundingUniverse".
11. [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (2007-05-25). "VISANT HOLDING CORP (Form: S-1/A, Filing Date: 05/25/2007)". Securities and Exchange Commission.
12. (16 October 2015). "In the Spotlight".
13. Picker, Leslie. (2015-10-14). "Jarden Reaches Deal to Buy Jostens for $1.5 Billion". The New York Times.
14. "Jarden to Buy Yearbook Maker Jostens for About $1.5 Billion". Bloomberg.
15. (2015-12-14). "Newell Rubbermaid to buy Jarden for $13.22 bln".
16. "Newell Brands Announces Agreements to Sell Pure Fishing to Sycamore Partners and Jostens to Platinum Equity".
17. (26 December 2018). "Platinum Equity Completes $1.3B Purchase of Jostens {{!}} Los Angeles Business Journal".
18. Mueller, Paul. (10 February 2024). "12 things you don't know about the Super Bowl ring". [[Fast Company]].
19. Belson, Ken. (4 February 2018). "In the Super Bowl City, Building the Rings". [[The New York Times]].
20. "Jostens Launches Monarch™ Cloud Service for Yearbook Creation".