The union and pension fund for Hostess Brands Inc. has hired Gordian Group to help preserve jobs and workers' benefits at the bankrupt maker of Twinkies snack cakes as Hostess negotiates with buyers, Reuters reported on Sunday. New York-based Gordian, which has no institutional loyalties to funds or bondholders in Hostess, will provide conflict-free advice for the welfare of the company's workers, The Bakery and Confectionery Union and Industry International Pension Fund (Bakers Fund) said. Mexico's Grupo Bimbo and a partnership between Apollo Global Management and veteran food executive C. Dean Metropoulos are among the leading candidates to buy Hostess Brands Inc's snack cake brands. In a separate announcement earlier this month, Hostess said Flowers Foods agreed to pay $390 million for Hostess's Wonder and other bread brands, including Nature's Pride and Butternut. That sale is still subject to a court-supervised auction.
