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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-…

Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and 23 television stations, said on Friday that it received regulatory approval needed to end its nearly four-year stay in bankruptcy, Reuters reported on Friday. Tribune said that it received approval from the Federal Communications Commission to transfer its broadcast licenses to the new owners who will take over the company when it emerges from bankruptcy. Tribune filed for bankruptcy in 2008, a year after real estate mogul Sam Zell gained control through a leveraged buyout. The company plans to transfer ownership to its main creditors -- Oaktree Capital Management, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Angelo, Gordon & Co.

The Obama administration provided struggling battery maker A123 Systems Inc. with nearly $1 million on the day it filed for bankruptcy, the company told lawmakers investigating its government grant, Reuters reported on Friday. The company, which makes lithium ion batteries for electric cars, filed for chapter 11 protection last month after a rescue deal with Chinese auto parts supplier Wanxiang Group fell apart. That same day, October 16, A123 received a $946,830 payment as part of its $249 million clean energy grant from the Energy Department, the company said in a letter, obtained by Reuters, to Republican Senators John Thune and Chuck Grassley. In the letter dated November 14, A123 said that the October payment was the most recent disbursement it had received from the government, with an additional $115.8 million still outstanding on the grant. Thune and Grassley have pressed the Energy Department for more details about its funding of A123 as the company has faltered.

The pilot union at AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, said that it will vote on a tentative contract with the bankrupt airline by early December, Reuters reported on Friday. The board of Allied Pilots Association on Friday approved the agreement-in-principle reached last week as a tentative agreement, which will now be subject to votes by its members, according to a statement on the union's website. The voting will be completed by Dec. 7 and the results are expected to be announced the same day, the company said. AMR, which is trying to reduce costs and emerge from bankruptcy, has already reached collective bargaining agreements with unions representing its flight attendants and ground workers.

Bankruptcy Judge Robert E. Gerber ruling will be revealed today on whether to let Pinnacle Airlines Corp. slash its pilots’ pay, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Judge Gerber filed his ruling under seal on Thursday in court. Gerber has gave the stakeholders until the close of business on Friday to proof the document, looking for “any typographical or citation errors,” “technical inaccuracies” or slips that disclose confidential information. Pinnacle sought Judge Gerber’s permission to shave an average of $59.6 million a year in costs related to the pilot union contracts between 2013 and 2018, contending that is necessary for its survival. Earlier this year, that number was $32.2 million, but Pinnacle says that it got a message from Delta that meant bigger cuts are called for.

LucasFilm Ltd., George Lucas's famed film studio that was recently acquired by Walt Disney Co., is taking issue with Digital Domain Media Group Inc.'s proposed intellectual-property sale, saying that its agreement with Digital Domain to use its three-dimensional patents in an already-completed project cannot be severed by the sale, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. LucasFilm entered an agreement with Digital Domain predecessor In Three Inc. in May 2006, it said in court documents filed Thursday, which allowed LucasFilm to use In Three's patented technology for a "specified project."

The Solyndra solar panel factory will be sold for $90.2 million to Seagate Technology, following a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge's approval yesterday of the sale of the cavernous plant, the Oakland (Calif.) Tribune reported. Seagate intends to use the cavernous plant for some of its Bay Area operations. The purchase price is 70 percent below the $300 million cost of construction of the building, as detailed in bankruptcy court records.

Tribune Co. is close to securing the regulatory approval it needs to emerge from its long-running bankruptcy, the Los Angeles Times reported today. The staff of the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday recommended that the agency grant the company waivers of rules that prohibit the ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations in the same city. Tribune needs the waivers for its cross-ownership of media properties in Los Angeles and four other markets. The waivers — the last major hurdle in the four-year case — would be granted today as long as none of the five commissioners raises serious objections. No vote is required for the waivers to take effect.

Hedge fund manager Man Group has sold claims to the estate of defunct U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in a $456 million deal, Reuters reported today. Hutchinson Investors, managed by hedge fund firm Baupost Group, is buying the portfolio at a 32 percent premium to its June 30 valuation, Man Group said today. Man Group acquired the claims for $355 million in July 2011 from funds managed by its GLG Partners subsidiary. It has never disclosed the size of the original claims. GLG was one of hundreds of hedge fund and asset managers which had outstanding trades with Lehman that collapsed along with the bank in 2008.

New Energy Corp. laid out plans to auction off its struggling 70-acre ethanol plant in South Bend, Ind., to pay off its biggest debt: a $33 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. Executives at New Energy, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Nov. 9, proposed to hold an auction on Jan. 29 for the plant, which can produce 100 million gallons of ethanol a year from corn.