Have no fear, the Twinkie will survive
Even though Hostess is going into bankruptcy, a line of suitors is interested in grabbing some of its brands. And the Twinkie is one of the hottest ones.
The phones at Hostess are ringing off the hook as companies line up to pursue the 30 brands that are for sale, now that the final mediation session between the company and its striking employees has failed.
Hostess has received "a flood of inquiries" from interested buyers, attorney Heather Lennox told a bankruptcy judge in court this week, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Unfortunately, all 18,500 workers will lose their jobs at a company that should have been managed better. Hostess has been in bankruptcy before, and emerged a few years ago loaded up with debt from its private equity backers. The company was so underwater, in fact, that it couldn't buy new equipment, The New York Times reports. Hostess had more than $860 million in debt earlier this year.
Hostess is unfairly pushing all the blame for its troubles on the unions. Still, the unions do bear some responsibility here. High labor costs doomed the company; employees had formed into 12 different unions by the time the end came.
At any rate, Hostess is keeping a "skeleton staff" of 3,200 people, The Journal reports. It's trying to find buyers for 30 brands and 36 factories, and from the way the suitors are lining up, it sounds like Hostess won't have a problem with some of those brands.
"We therefore think there could be very healthy competition," Lennox told the court. Hostess may start auctioning some of its assets soon.
Hostess also plans to award bonuses to the officers and managers that helped run the company into the ground. The company is seeking $1.75 million to distribute to 19 executives for a job well done.
Some potential buyers include international companies eager for a piece of the U.S. bakery business as well as big pastry names already familiar to Americans. Flowers Foods (FLO), which makes Nature's Own bread, has been mentioned as a buyer along with Groupo Bimbo, a Mexican company that also owns the Entenmann's pastry line.
So whoever made the single bid for a $5,000 Twinkie sold on eBay, you may have a great story to tell but you probably won't have one of the last Twinkies ever made. They'll be back.
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| Tags: | Kim Peterson |
I cannot help but feel that the families of the 112 people who died in that foreign clothing factory wish that they had a union looking after their worker safety. I haven't actually read the article, only the headline, but my imagination tells me that there were hundreds of people packed into a sweatshop with insufficient ventilation and not enough exits and fire fighting equipment.
Unions do have a useful purpose and it is a shame that they are no better sometimes than the management they oppose in that they become greedy and corrupt just as easily. The result is that everybody suffers when that happens and businesses like Hostess wind up closing. Too bad.
why would any of U think management is the problem and that they ran the company into the ground. healthcare and retirement benefits R the problem. pay attention other children we have 30 + yrs. of the baby boomer generation wanting us to take care of them, it's just beginning because they won't die as patriots for us and their country but will milk their children and others for a few more yrs. of sitting on their behinds. i'm glad the executive's that had to put up with this nonsense got the major share for a job well done, and if the employee's don't like it let them start up a company and listen to their employee's bichin about healthcare and retirement benefits. i think it's just starting to hit the fan and i'm liking the sound of it
slayerwulfe cave
It looks like there was alot of B/S'ing at the top. I guess those "TWINKIES" ate too many "HO-HO"S!!!! It is like our post office situation. Come on, "Da Trump"!!! Buy out Hostess, with your buddy Mark Cuban, and together it would be a love and hate business situation. Donald "twinkie" Trump & Mark " Wonderman" Cuban, INC.
I don't think I ever made statements siding all the time with Unions against Companies that run a pretty good ship, ABS....Just not true......Ex-union slug, yeah maybe, but also Management and Entrepenuer as Business owners..Hirer of Contractors and such...
And I've always believe in Fair and Equitable negotiations, Always to get the "best deal", even if it is for myself. (human nature).
A far as the Unions going on strike....Well the owners/executives (Venture Capitalist) just kept coming back to the Employees for more and more concessions, over a period of several years...
Taking wages and reducing benefits and pensions...
Strangely, Executives believed they "should be rewarded for a BAD JOB." But the workers were to suffer for mangement's mistakes.
You really need to read up on the agenda of the Company, some of the mistakes they made and problem debt they seemed to incur along with mis-managing the assets over 10-20 yr. period..
After at least declaring bankruptcy once before(2004), their intentions were not honorable to "save the company" but only to milk as much profit or cash out of the Corporation as possible...
They are well on their way to doing just that, and they are Vulture Capitalist Scumbags..
Quit blatting about unions....It was not a Union problem.....It displays your ignorance.
And I'm going to guess some of the locations were not unionized, or were maybe in right-to-work States, and may not have paid dues..Anyway..
Legacy costs may have been a factor, but didn't seem to be that many retirees drawing pensions?
As far as the overall picture from back in the days of KC,Mo...The Company or companies have an interesting past and plenty of History..You might want read it..Wikipedia has a pretty good synopsis.
A buyout by the employees, with good backing is a workable idea, maybe even doable; If they take the Company down to a manageable level and consolidate some operations. Pare off a couple of Brands possibly?...In areas where they may not be strong.
I wish and hope something like that could happen. It works sometimes.
Dear Friends:
Do you hear what I hear? A Star a Star !
Do you hear what I hear? Songs and Hymns and Bells ringing in the air!
Save the little Twinkies and Hostess Cupcakes!
A Star A Star make it happen people every where.
Save the Hostess and Twinkies, Bankers and Employees form a new corporation or partnership. Amen.
Dear Friends:
Hostess and Twinkies! All seven of us enjoyed these as children and my parents.
All they Employees pool together and form a corporation or partnership and buy the owner out and work. Shares like South West Airlines did when they started. If some employees are veterans there are Veterans SBA Loans and there are other special loans that the large insittutions have. Keep it alive and in the USA. Jobs. Amen.
See, getting someone to sweep the floor or ride a HI LO all day, takes SUCH skill and intelligence ! You can't possibly fill those jobs with non union workers, you need that union skill - LOL
THAT'S why they should get pensions and lots of freebies that the non union slobs could never get l
One problem though - the company has been losing money for years , told the unions that but the union don't care.
So, they strike , trying to bring the company to it's knees!
How did it work out , you ask?
The Unemployment- line LOL
Let them strike that !
How's that union working out now, fools?
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