Hostess is "wild and woolly" Twinkies auction

9:00 AM auction, Hostess, Twinkies, woolly No Comments

Matthew j. Belvedere, CNBC - 5 pm.

The bids for Twinkies and other snack cakes by bankrupt hostess brands competitive his, predicts company CEO Greg Rayburn in an interview of the "first on CNBC" on Thursday.

Hostess chose a planned range of $410 million from private equity firm Apollo global to buy management and Metropoulos & co., marks, five bakeries and certain equipment.

More from CNBC: private-equity firms puts hostess rescue plan

"The auction on the cake side of-the Twinkie page - be wild and wooly," Rayburn told "Squawk Box."

The so-called "stalking horse" offer by the private-equity firms, to buy 82-year-old Baker would serve as the minimum offer. Leon Black's Apollo works with Connecticut billionaire C. Dean Metropoulos, owner of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Metropoulos is a former food-industry-Manager, a failed bid for Sara Lee in 2011.

Other bidders could still offer more at an auction that hostess next month wants to be pending approval by the U.S. bankruptcy court for the Southern District of New York.

The agreement requires no Apollo and Metropoulos to hostess snacks liabilities or other obligations.

In November, hostess said it went out of business, which led to the loss of about 18,000 jobs.

"I would like to see more people have busy - announcement - less," Rayburn said Thursday on CNBC. [But] the standard in bankruptcy court is the highest value.

Run listings for some of the other hostess brands, including an offer of $390 million flowers food for Wonder Bread, they all value the assets of the company at about 850 million $.

The case is in re: hostess Brands Inc et al, U.S. bankruptcy court, Southern District of New York, no. 12 22052.

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Twinkie lovers can relax: Hostess sale is imminent

11:00 AM Hostess, imminent, lovers, relax, Twinkie No Comments

From wire services , NBC News – 2 days

The indestructible Twinkie appears to be one step closer to a comeback.

Hostess Brands is close to announcing that it has picked two investment firms — C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. and Apollo Global Management — as the lead bidders for its Twinkies and other snack cakes, according to a source close to the situation.

The so-called stalking horse bid would be for more than $400 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. It would serve as the baseline offer for the business and could be topped by others at an auction. A judge would have to approve any final sale.

A deal, part of Hostess's bankruptcy reorganization, is not yet final, said the source, who declined to be identified as the discussions are not public.

Spokesmen for Metropoulos and Apollo were not immediately available to comment. Hostess declined to comment.

After years of management turmoil and turnover, Hostess declared it was going out of business and selling its brands in November.

Earlier this month, Hostess chose a $390 million offer by Flowers Foods , maker of Tastykake products, as the stalking horse bid for several brands including Wonder bread and Drake's.

On Monday, Hostess said it chose McKee Foods Corp, maker of Little Debbie snack cakes, as the initial bidder for its Drake's cakes, which include Ring Dings, Yodels and Devil Dogs. It also chose United States Bakery as the lead bidder for four of its smaller bread brands plus bakeries, equipment and depots.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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