News in Twinkie-world this morning is that Hostess Brands has "selected affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC and Metropoulos & Co. as the stalking horse bidder for the majority of the assets of the Company's snack cake business, which includes both Hostess® and Dolly Madison® branded products, including the iconic Twinkies® brand."
See Also: The Real Reason Twinkies Died, According to John Stewart
Apollo and Metropoulos has offered $410 million for the brands, five bakeries and equipment, which is actually is a starting point for bids that other companies can try to beat.
Hostess chairman and CEO Gregory Rayburn has said interest in the iconic sponge cake business has been "intense" and he expects a "robust, court-authorized auction process."
Touché on the "robust" word play, Mr. Rayburn.
Hostess, which is/was based in Irving, has endured a messy downfall the past several years, with many fingers pointed at a self-indulgent management (to be expected, right?), all of which culminated in an official shut-down after a major union went on strike last November. More than 18,000 workers lost their jobs that day.
Alas, the Twinkie revival is still on and has never really been in question, it's just a matter of how quickly it can get out of bankruptcy court proceedings. Assets and brands included in the business include Wonder®, Butternut®, Home Pride®, Merita®, Nature's Pride®, Beefsteak®, Sweetheart®, Eddy's®, Standish Farms® and Grandma Emilie's® bread brands as well as its Drake's® snack cake business.
