The union that brought the 85-year-old baker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread to its knees is holding out hope that a buyer will salvage chunks of the company and send the union's members back to work, even as Hostess Brands Inc. gears up for a fire sale, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Hostess, the company behind treats snacked on for generations, is poised today to present to a federal bankruptcy judge a plan to shut down 36 plants and sell off the company's business. The liquidation was sparked by a nationwide strike orchestrated by the snack maker's second-largest union, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers. While Hostess has said that the shutdown would result in the loss of more than 18,000 jobs and place the fate of more than 30 American brands in jeopardy, union President Frank Hurt said he believed there was "more than a good chance" that a buyer quickly would swoop in to buy the profitable parts of the company and give his union's members their jobs back. Read more. (Subscription required.)
http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB100014241278873236229045781272812…
In related news, Hostess Brands Inc. may attract bids for its brands from rival Flowers Foods Inc. and private equity firm C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. in a liquidation the company estimates will take about a year, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday. The 82-year-old maker of Hostess CupCakes, Ding Dongs and Ho Hos said on Friday that it would fire more than 18,000 employees and go out of business after a weeklong strike by its bakers’ union. Metropoulos, owner of Pabst Brewing Co., said that it may bid for Hostess's "iconic brands." Flowers, maker of Nature’s Own bread and Tastykake snacks, could pursue some of its rival's assets to expand its geographic reach and fill existing territory, wrote William Chappell, an analyst with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. Read more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2012-11-17/hostess-seen-attracting-…