• The New York Times, Wednesday, April 25, 2007 12:37 PM

In a deal expected to be announced today, Jarden Corp. will pay about $1.2 billion in cash and stock to acquire K2 Sports, which makes Rawlings baseball gloves, K2 skis and equipment for fishing, whitewater rafting and paintball.

Jarden's founder and CEO, Martin E. Franklin, has been assembling niche brands with high visibility but slow growth since 1991. In 2004, he bought the United States Playing Card Co., which makes the Bicycle brand of cards used in many casinos. That same year, he acquired American Household, the successor to Sunbeam, and in the process acquired the Mr. Coffee line of housewares and Coleman, the maker of fire extinguishers and smoke alarms.

K2, which is based in Carlsbad, Calif., reported net income of about $37.7 million last year. The people who manage K2's product lines will report to the executives of the Jarden outdoor solutions unit after the deal is closed.

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