STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 9 July 2015

[tclambert]

24. Twinkies are back.

Twinkies are not just back from the dead. Their baker may now be worth billions.

In 2012, Hostess, the iconic American bakery giant behind Ding Dongs, Ho Hos and Twinkies, was bankrupt, with plans to slash more than 18,000 jobs and close its doors for good amid a crippling nationwide strike.

Then, in 2013, a snack-cake savior appeared. The Missouri-based sweets maker was bought for $410 million by a partnership between private-equity giant Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos, a billionaire turnaround artist known as "Mr. Shelf Space" for his revival of brands like Vlasic, Hungry-Man and Chef Boyardee.

Now, the iconic dessert titan is resurgent, selling its golden, cream-filled Twinkies across the world under the name Hostess Brands and turning down $2 billion offers from a pack of hopeful buyers. On Tuesday morning, the company reached its latest peak when Reuters, citing anonymous sources, suggested Hostess would head to Wall Street with an initial public offering that would value the company at around $2.5 billion.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/07/07/twinkies-are-not-just-back-from-the-dead-their-baker-may-now-be-worth-billions/