The stalking horse bid submitted by affiliates of Apollo Global Management (Apollo) and Metropoulos & Co (Metropoulos) for the majority of the Hostess Brands’ snack cake business, which includes both Hostess and Dolly Madison branded products, will be the bid presented for approval to the US Bankruptcy Court as no other qualified bids were received for those assets.
Apollo and Metropoulos have agreed to pay USD410 million to purchase the brands, five bakeries and certain equipment. Among the products included are the Company’s Twinkies, Ho Hos, Ding Dongs and Donettes snack cakes. The Company will ask the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to approve the transaction at a hearing on 19 March.
"The agreement results in significant value for our stakeholders and we look forward to putting the proposed transaction before the Court next week," says Hostess Brands Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gregory F Rayburn.
As previously announced, Flowers Foods has agreed to pay USD360 million for the majority of the bread business assets. The agreement includes, in addition to the brands, 20 bakeries, 38 depots and other assets. In a separate transaction, Grupo Bimbo was selected as the winning bidder for the assets related to the Company’s Beefsteak bread business at the conclusion of a 28 February auction. Grupo Bimbo has agreed to pay USD31.9 million for the Beefsteak assets. The Court will also consider approval of these brands at the same 19 March hearing for the Hostess and Dolly Madison brands.
On 15 March, Hostess Brands will conduct an auction for its Drake’s snack cake business and Sweetheart, Standish Farms, Grandma Emilie’s and Eddy’s bread businesses. The combined stalking horse bids for those assets total approximately USD56.6 million.
