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Hostess brands to be shared

The company's well-known products most likely will be sold off to a variety of suitors.

FILE - In this Nov. 16, 2012 file photo, a cashier rings up boxes of Hostess Twinkies and Cup Cakes at the Hostess Brands' bakery in Denver. Blaming a labor dispute for ongoing financial woes, Hostess Brands decided to close shop this year, taking with it lunch box staples such as Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder bread. The company said it would try to sell off its more storied brands, so maybe there is hope for the mysteriously enduring snack cakes. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 16, 2012 file photo, a cashier rings up boxes of Hostess Twinkies and Cup Cakes at the Hostess Brands' bakery in Denver. Blaming a labor dispute for ongoing financial woes, Hostess Brands decided to close shop this year, taking with it lunch box staples such as Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder bread. The company said it would try to sell off its more storied brands, so maybe there is hope for the mysteriously enduring snack cakes. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)Read moreASSOCIATED PRESS
    by By Candice Choi, Associated Press, Inquirer
    Published 

NEW YORK - Twinkies, Wonder Bread, and Devil Dogs are likely to return to shelves in coming months, but probably not under the same owners.

Hostess Brands Inc. said in bankruptcy court Friday it was narrowing down the bids it received for its brands and expected to sell off its snack cakes and bread to separate buyers. The testimony came from an investment banker for Hostess, which is liquidating.

A likely suitor has emerged for the namesake Hostess brand, which includes Twinkies, Ding Dongs, and Ho Hos, along with Dolly Madison cakes, which includes Coffee Cakes and Zingers, said Joshua Scherer of Perella Weinberg Partners. He said another viable bid was made for Drake's cakes, which includes Devil Dogs, Funny Bones and Yodels. That bidder also wants to buy the Drake's plant in Wayne, N.J., which Scherer said is the country's only kosher bakery plant.

Additional bids have been submitted for its bread brands, which include Wonder and Home Pride. Hostess expects to file binding "stalking horse" bids for many of its brands in January. Those filings would be followed by a four-week auction process to allow competing bids. Scherer said the auctions could be very active for some of the brands, given the number of parties that have expressed interest. Sales could be completed by as early as mid-March.

About 30 plants could also be sold with the brands, Scherer said, with six plants, several warehouses, and a fleet of trucks likely to be closed or scrapped.

At the time of the bankruptcy filing, Hostess, of Irving, Texas, employed 18,000, including about 400 at a plant in Northeast Philadelphia.

Hostess has hired a firm Hilco to act as a sales agent for those additional assets; the firm will also give Hostess a $30 million loan to maintain operations during its liquidation, which is expected to take about a year.