Hostess Seen Attracting Bids for Assets From Flowers

Hostess Brands Inc., the bankrupt baker of Twinkies and Wonder bread, may attract bids for its brands from rival Flowers Foods Inc. and private equity firm C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. in a liquidation the company estimates will take about a year.

The 82-year-old maker of Hostess CupCakes, Ding Dongs and Ho Hos said yesterday it would fire more than 18,000 employees and go out of business after a weeklong strike by its bakers’ union. Metropoulos, owner of Pabst Brewing Co., said it may bid for Hostess's ``iconic brands.'' Flowers, maker of Nature’s Own bread and Tastykake snacks, could pursue some of its rival's assets to expand its geographic reach and fill existing territory, wrote William Chappell, an analyst with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.