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Hostess Brands Says It Will Liquidate

Started by garbon, November 16, 2012, 09:15:47 AM

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garbon

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/hostess-brands-says-it-will-liquidate/

QuoteWhile Twinkies have a reputation for an unlimited shelf life, the company that makes the junk food does not.

Hostess Brands, the bankrupt maker of cream-filled pastries like Twinkies and Ho Hos, said on Friday that it planned to wind down its operations and sell off its portfolio of well-known brands. The decision comes a week after one of the company's biggest unions went on strike to protest a labor contract.

Friday's decision spells the end of Hostess, an 82-year-old company that has endured wars, countless diet fads and even an earlier Chapter 11 filing. As the national appetite for the junk food waned, the baked-goods maker fell on hard times.

In January, Hostess Brands filed again for Chapter 11, just three years after emerging from the previous restructuring. The company originally hoped to reorganize its finances, principally by cutting labor costs.

But those plans were stymied by the recent labor dispute. The work stoppage by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union affected nearly two-thirds of Hostess's factories across the country. The company first responded by closing three factories, then gave union members until 5 p.m. on Thursday to return to work.

"We deeply regret the necessity of today's decision, but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike," Gregory F. Rayburn, Hostess' chief executive, said in a statement.

Hostess' advisers will soon begin to shut down the company's 33 bakeries and 565 distribution centers. The vast majority of its 18,500 employees will be laid off, according to the company.

The liquidation may not mean the end of Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread. Such sweet treats could find new life under a different owner, once the company begins an auction of its brands and assets.

Well that's probably not what those striking were looking for.
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

CountDeMoney

Hostess has been on the downslide for ages.  Just a matter of time.

Gonna wipe out the Ho-Hos now.

Maximus

Quote from: garbon on November 16, 2012, 09:15:47 AM
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/hostess-brands-says-it-will-liquidate/

QuoteWhile Twinkies have a reputation for an unlimited shelf life, the company that makes the junk food does not.

Hostess Brands, the bankrupt maker of cream-filled pastries like Twinkies and Ho Hos, said on Friday that it planned to wind down its operations and sell off its portfolio of well-known brands. The decision comes a week after one of the company's biggest unions went on strike to protest a labor contract.

Friday's decision spells the end of Hostess, an 82-year-old company that has endured wars, countless diet fads and even an earlier Chapter 11 filing. As the national appetite for the junk food waned, the baked-goods maker fell on hard times.

In January, Hostess Brands filed again for Chapter 11, just three years after emerging from the previous restructuring. The company originally hoped to reorganize its finances, principally by cutting labor costs.

But those plans were stymied by the recent labor dispute. The work stoppage by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union affected nearly two-thirds of Hostess's factories across the country. The company first responded by closing three factories, then gave union members until 5 p.m. on Thursday to return to work.

"We deeply regret the necessity of today's decision, but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike," Gregory F. Rayburn, Hostess' chief executive, said in a statement.

Hostess' advisers will soon begin to shut down the company's 33 bakeries and 565 distribution centers. The vast majority of its 18,500 employees will be laid off, according to the company.

The liquidation may not mean the end of Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread. Such sweet treats could find new life under a different owner, once the company begins an auction of its brands and assets.

Well that's probably not what those striking were looking for.

We have a good friend who worked at one of their plants. The union simply refused to negotiate. Word is they were willing to sacrifice their Hostess employees to strengthen their position elsewhere.

Also apparently the teamsters were crossing the picket lines.

Brazen

When I first started reading comics, the Hostess adverts sold me the American Dream.

Decades later I tried a Twinkie. You can keep your American Dream  :lol:

I still want to sell jokes and tricks for $$$ and gifts, though, and "See through bones, through clothing!", and start a Sea Monkey farm.

Maximus

I'm not sure what a twinkie is. I suppose I could look it up, but I don't really care.

PDH

 :(  Now Little Debbie will rule with an iron fist
I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.
-Umberto Eco

-------
"I'm pretty sure my level of depression has nothing to do with how much of a fucking asshole you are."

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Baron von Schtinkenbutt

Quote from: PDH on November 16, 2012, 09:34:36 AM
:(  Now Little Debbie will rule with an iron fist

Good.  They make much better products.

jimmy olsen

It is far better for the truth to tear my flesh to pieces, then for my soul to wander through darkness in eternal damnation.

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Faye: Ordinary. The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can't leave alone.
Jet: I see.
Faye: Like an angel from the underworld. Or a devil from Paradise.
--------------------------------------------
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Barrister

Posts here are my own private opinions.  I do not speak for my employer.

viper37

I checked the Wikipedia article.  Nothing I eat in there, so I'm good!
I don't do meditation.  I drink alcohol to relax, like normal people.

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merithyn

Quote from: Maximus on November 16, 2012, 09:25:05 AM
We have a good friend who worked at one of their plants. The union simply refused to negotiate. Word is they were willing to sacrifice their Hostess employees to strengthen their position elsewhere.

Also apparently the teamsters were crossing the picket lines.

We do? :unsure:
Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I wish, I wish he'd go away...

Eddie Teach

To sleep, perchance to dream. But in that sleep of death, what dreams may come?

lustindarkness

Tallahassee will be very sad, and pissed that there will be no more twinkies. :(
Grand Duke of Lurkdom

merithyn

Quote from: merithyn on November 16, 2012, 10:42:37 AM
Quote from: Maximus on November 16, 2012, 09:25:05 AM
We have a good friend who worked at one of their plants. The union simply refused to negotiate. Word is they were willing to sacrifice their Hostess employees to strengthen their position elsewhere.

Also apparently the teamsters were crossing the picket lines.

We do? :unsure:

We do! :ultra:
Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I wish, I wish he'd go away...