Twinkies Will Return – Sales Of Hostess Brands OK’d By Judge

Fans of Twinkies and other beloved Hostess brands have a sweet treat to look forward to. The judge overseeing the Hostess bankruptcy proceedings has approved the sale of several of the company’s brands to a handful of investment firms.

Brands such as Twinkies, Ho Hos, and Ding Dongs might hit the shelves again as soon as this summer.

Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co worked together to acquire Hostess’s snack cake brands, paying $410 million for Twinkies, Ho Hos, Ding Dongs and Donnettes. Surprisingly, there were no other contenders for the popular Hostess brands.

“Our family is thrilled to have the opportunity to reestablish these iconic brands with new creative marketing ideas and renewed sales efforts and investment,” Daren Metropoulos, a principal of Metropoulos & Co, told Reuters via email. “We look forward to having America’s favorite snacks back on the shelf by this summer.”

Metropoulos & Co also owns Pabst Beer, while Apollo Global Management owns the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr brands.

Flowers Food Inc, known for their Tastykakes brand, acquired a majority of Hostess’s bread brands, including Wonder Bread, Butternut, and Nature’s Pride. The company shelled out $360 million to acquire the brands, in addition to 20 bakeries and other

Hostess sold the Beefsteak brand of bread to Grupo Bimbo for $31.9 million. Grupo Bimbo is the world’s largest bread maker, based in Mexico. The company is known for brands such as Entenmann’s cakes and Thomas’ English Muffins.

Another court hearing is scheduled for April 9 to approve the sale of Drake’s cakes to McKee Foods, the maker of Little Debbie snack cakes. Drake’s cakes include brands such as Devil Dogs and Yodels. McKee Foods will be paying $27.5 million to acquire the brands.

The money used from the sale of Hostess’ brands will go toward paying off the company’s creditors. The company has stated that the amount owed totals to $1.43 billion.

In November 2012, Hostess filed for bankruptcy for the second time, abandoning its plans to emerge from bankruptcy. The company blamed the failure to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on a strike by its bakers union.

While the bakers union was originally opposed to the idea of selling the Hostess brands, they have now had a change of heart due to plans made by the new owners to get products back on shelves quickly.

The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union stated that “our highly-motivated and skilled workforce will serve as indispensable partners in the seamless re-opening of factories.”

Are you excited for the return of Twinkies and other Hostess products?

Do you think that the return of the Hostess brands will be successful?

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!