Twinkie, Hostess Brands | featured news

A bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved the sale of Twinkies to a pair of investment firms, one of which has said it hopes to have the cakes back on shelves by summer. Hostess Brands Inc. is selling Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos and other brands to Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co. for $410 million. Evan Metropoulos, a principal of the latter firm, said in an interview that he wants to have the snack cakes back on shelves by June and that the brands could benefit from new flavors and other product extensions.

Hostess is moving ahead with plans to sell its Twinkies, and one of the new owners says the spongy cream-filled snacks could be back on shelves by summer.

Private equity firms Apollo Global Management LLC and C. Dean Metropoulos & Co are near a deal to buy snack cake brands including Hostess Twinkies and Donettes, two sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

A newspaper is reporting that Flowers Foods and Bimbo are emerging as bidders for the bread brands of Hostess, which in the midst of a bankruptcy-court liquidation of its assets.

... According to a report by the Wall Street Journal , Hostess’ CEO, Gregory Rayburn, essentially admitted that his company stole employee pension money and put it toward CEO and senior executive pay (aka “operations”). While this isn't technically illegal, it's another sleazy theft by Hostess executives - who've paid themselves handsomely while running their company into the ground. Just last month, a judge agreed to let Hostess executives suck another $1.8 million out of the bankrupt company to pay bonuses to CEOs.

One of the best-known US snack food brands may survive as its bankrupt owner reveals it is in talks with 110 potential buyers.

Only days after being unable to work things out with a striking union, and forcing us all to devour faux Twinkies for our creamy, spongy sugar fix, the folks at Hostess Brands Inc. are asking for a bankruptcy court to approve up to $1.8 million in bonus payments to top executives.

Twinkie lovers, relax. The tasty cream-filled golden spongecakes are likely to survive, even though their maker will be sold in bankruptcy court. Hostess Brands, baker of Wonder Bread as well as Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Ho Ho's, will be in a New York bankruptcy courtroom today to start the process of selling itself.

Today, Hostess Brands inc. — the company famed for its sickly sweet dessert snacks like Twinkies and Sno Balls — announced they’d be shuttering after more than eighty years of production. But while headlines have been quick to blame unions for the downfall of the company there’s actually more to the story: While the company was filing for bankruptcy, for the second time, earlier this year, it actually tripled its CEO’s pay, and increased other executives’ compensation by as much as 80 percent.

...Even if America’s iconic lard-log is dying, however, its entrepreneurial spirit is very much alive. Which is evidenced by the market for Twinkies and Twinkie-related products that is currently emerging on eBay. According to prices set by the sellers on the auction site, if you want a piece of air-puffed, sugar-soaked, corn-fed American history … it is going to cost you.