The Twinkie appears to be safe after Hostess Brands apparently named two private equity firms as the lead bidder for the brand. The company announced it was closing its doors late last year after going bankrupt.
Today The Wall Street Journal cites an anonymous source who said Hostess Brands has chosen C. Dean Metropoulos & Company and Apollo Global Management as the leading bidders for the Twinkie brand and other well-known Hostess products. Numerous other companies have attempted to pick up the iconic Twinkie, but the two bidders chosen by Hostess are said to have offered $400 million. An auction could take place in a matter of weeks.
Hostess has already named a leading bidder for its Wonder Bread brand and Dolly Madison brand. It named Flower Foods as the leading bidder for Wonder Bread and several other brand names. On Monday it selected McKee Foods Corp., which makes Little Debbie snack cakes, as the leading bidder for its Drake’s cakes line, which includes Devil Dogs, Yodels and Ring Dings.
The Twinkie has long been considered to be Hostess’ biggest brand name, so naturally it would be one of the last brands to go. Other brands included in the bid are the Dolly Madison bread and Hostess cupcakes. Several factories also come with the package. When the Twinkie and the rest of the deal goes up for auction, another bidder could still steal it away from joint bidders Metropoulos & Company and Apollo Global Management.
The Chicago Tribune took a closer look at the equities firms that have been named as the leading bidders. The newspaper points out that Dean Metropoulos was previously a joint owner on other packaged food names like Duncan Hines, Swanson and Vlasic. His firm acquired Pabst Blue Ribbon beer in 2010.
Apollo has made investments into consumer companies in the past, like CKE Restaurants.