When Hostess announced late last year that broken down labor negotiations forced the company to go out of business, many feared a future without the beloved Twinkie.
As expected, those fears can be put away as several firms and competitors have expressed interest in purchasing the slew of Hostess brands and products, including the Twinkie, Ring Dings and Wonder bread. Each of the labels will be auctioned off in the coming months, but reports say that Hostess has selected the stalking horses, or top bids to be beat.
- According to a report by the Associated Press, two investment firms, Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. submitted a joint offer of more than $400 million for Twinkies. Bloomberg News reports that the package also includes some facilities.
- McKee Foods Corp., makers of the Little Debbie brand snack cakes, made the top bid of $27.5 million for Hostess' line of Drake's snacks, including Yodels, Devil Dogs, Funny Bones and Ring Dings, the Dallas Morning News reports. The auction for Drake's is tentatively scheduled for March 15.
- According to the Chicago Tribune, Flower Foods Inc. will start the bidding at $390 million for several Hostess bread products, including Wonder Bread, Butternut, Home Pride, Merita and Nature's Pride. Flower Foods purchased the Tastykake brand for $165 million in 2011.
- United States Bakery, Inc. offered approximately $28.85 million for the Sweetheart, Eddy's, Standish Farms and Grandma Emilie's bread brands.
Hostess began the liquidation process in November 2012 when labor negotiations with the bakers' union broke down. A proposed contract that would reduce wages and benefits was rejected, spurring the Hostess management to close all operations and file for bankruptcy.
