After filing for bankruptcy protection in November and laying off its workers, Hostess has finally found buyers to pony up about $800 million for the majority of its baked goods brands.

According to Associated Press, a bankruptcy judge has approved the sale of Hostess Brands' iconic Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Ho Hos to two investment firms, Apollo Global Management and Pabst owner Metropoulos & Co., for $410 million. The judge also approved the sale of Hostess-owned Wonder Bread, Nature's Pride, Butternut, Home Pride and Merita bread brands to Tastykakes owner Flowers Foods, for $360M.

Beefsteak, a Hostess-owned regional bread brand, also was approved for a $31.9 million sale to Mexico's Grupo Bimbo, which surfaced early in the Hostess bankruptcy auction as a potential buyer and acquired Sara Lee's North American bakery business in 2010.Continue reading...

Some folks pay a couple of bucks for a loaf of bread. Some folks pay $360 million. 

That’s how much Flower Foods is shelling out to take over the baking privileges of Wonder Bread, which has been on the block since Hostess declared bankruptcy last year.

As part of the deal, Flowers will also pick up Butternut, Home Pride, Merita and Nature’s Pride bread lines since there were no other bidders involved, Reuters reports. The plan had been to auction off the properties Thursday but no other interested parties stepped up.

According to Hostess' numbers, the six different bread brands brought in $1 billion in sales last year and Wonder was responsible for around half of that, the New York Post reports. That would be a sweet addition to the $3 billion Flower Foods already reportedly brings in.

Hostess’s Beefsteak bread line, on the other hand, does have at least two parties interested. The Wall Street Journal reports that Mexico’s Grupo Bimbo, the makers of Entenmann's, Sara Lee and Thomas', has bid $1 million more than the $30 million Flowers has offered for the line, so an auction will take place. Continue reading...

Jokes about Twinkies, Ho-Hos and Ding Dongs may never end. And it's possible that those names and even products, possibly even their parent brand, could live on.

But now, rather suddenly, Hostess Brands, the company that has made them all possible through the decades, has met its apparent end, with the CEO filing for bankruptcy Friday morning, a move he's been threatening while playing hardball with striking workers. The move means the end for the company that brought the world not only Twinkies, but also Wonder Bread, Dolly Madison, and a host(ess) of other branded baked goods.Continue reading...

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Look at the current M&A (Mergers & Acquisitions) scene in U.S. business and you'll see signals, especially in the food industry, that big conglomerates are falling out of favor: 

• In June, Sara Lee jettisoned its famous name, splitting the company into two units: Hillshire Brands, focusing on mostly meat products, and D.E. Master Blenders 1753, a European maker of coffees and teas. 
• Last week, the country's largest dairy company, Dean Foods, said its Whitewave unit, which accounts for about 40 percent of Dean's operating income, would split from the company and file an IPO. Whitewave produces Horizon Organic milk and the Silk brand, which includes soy and almond milk, products that have been growing faster than Dean's regional milk brands.
• In October, the giant Kraft Foods will split the company in two, separating its U.S. business (Kraft Foods Group) from its international snack foods business (Mondelez International). 

Corporate breakups are on the rise, according to Bloomberg Businessweek, which reports that there were 19 U.S. corporate public company spinoffs in 2011 vs. 16 in 2010. Eleven spinoffs have already been finalized in 2012 and thirteen more have been announced. Continue reading...

In the annals of brand taglines, "Nobody Doesn't Like Sara Lee" is considered a timeless classic. It evoked images of delectable baked wholesome goodies, fresh from the oven. As a result, the Sara Lee name was indelibly etched into the minds of a generation of moms. (Actually, the full tagline was "Everybody doesn't like something, but nobody doesn't like Sara Lee.")

But that was yesterday. Today's Sara Lee is moving in an entirely new direction — with a product line that concentrates on packaged meats rather than baked goods. So goodbye "Sara Lee" and hello Hillshire Brands, the official new name of the food company's North American foods business as a result of its corporate split. According to a press release, "The new name of the company ... will become effective after the June 28, 2012 spin-off to shareholders of its international coffee and tea business."

It's a natural evolution, given the fact that Sara Lee had already divested itself of the snack cakes and cookies that were its claim to fame. Still, when a brand name with the equity of Sara Lee is abandoned, well...Continue reading...

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