Flowers Foods Inc., maker of packaged bakery foods, will buy the majority of the bread-making business of bankrupt Hostess Brands Inc., including its Wonder Bread brand, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Flowers, based in Thomasville, Ga., will pay about $360 million for Hostess's Wonder, Butternut, Home Pride, Merita and Nature's Pride brands, 20 bread plants, 38 depots and other assets, after no other competing offers were submitted. Hostess will sell more bread and snack-cake brand assets next month, including the iconic Twinkies, with initial offers totaling about $466.4 million, according to court documents.
