Prepare your Costco-sized box of Kleenex for that friend who gleefully shelled out fistfuls of cash to obtain some of the last packages of Twinkies on earth.
First because a U.S. bankruptcy court in White Plains, N.Y. on Monday gave Hostess Brands Inc. permission to auction of its Twinkie and Wonder Bread brands, according to a Reuters report. Second because early coverage of the Hostess bankruptcy pointed out that many of its most famous brands remain profitable. Twinkies, for example, earned Hostess about $68 million in revenue through Nov. 2012, according to CNBC.
Trash food junkies will learn on March 19 what company might restart the ovens that will pump out the Twinkies of the future. Nevertheless we found a sealed box of the greasy little sugar bombs on eBay for a mere $127. To be fair there are also sales for as high as $1,999 and as low as $5. Eat your heart out (literally), Ayn Rand.
Private equity firms Apollo Global Management LLC and C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. are working together and have announced their willingness to spend about $400 million on the 82-year-old baking companies brands, facilities and baking equipment, according to Reuters report. The bid is a low point, and other companies could submit higher offers.
Our beloved Twinkies, that which we will live off as we repopulate a post-zombie/nuclear apocalypse planet, might actually be okay in the future should current bidders receive approval.
Read Also:
- Twinkies in Danger: Hostess May Liquidate Today
- Twinkies Actually Can Survive Anything -- Even a Workers' Strike
- Bankrupt Twinkie Manufacturer Warns of Hundreds of Florida Layoffs
Dean Metropoulos reportedly knows his way around the world of packaged-and-processed foods. He was once the joint owner of Duncan Hines baking mixes, Vlasic pickles and Swanson frozen dinners. He revamped Chef Boyardee, Pam cooking spray and Bumble Bee's line of canned seafood before selling the holding company to ConAgra in 2000 for $2.9 billion, according to Forbes.
He's No. 360 on the magazine list of America's 400 wealthiest people. In 2010, his firm bought hipster staple Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.
Texas-based Hostess slipped into bankruptcy for a second time in 2012 after negotiations between the company and its second-largest union -- the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union -- came to a standstill in November, crippling the already struggling company.
The firm's closing meant up to 18,500 people lost their jobs nationwide, including almost 500 in Florida.
Workers initially went on strike because the company cuts wages by eight percent and benefits by 27 percent.
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