Hostess Begins Firings After Wind-Down Request Approved

Hostess Brands Inc., the baker of Twinkies and Wonder bread, began firing employees after winning interim court approval to shut down and start selling assets that a financial adviser said may bring in $1 billion.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain yesterday approved Hostess’s request to close at a hearing in White Plains, New York. Chief Executive Officer Gregory Rayburn said 15,000 workers would be fired the same day so they could start receiving unemployment benefits. Hostess said Nov. 16 that it needed to liquidate because a weeklong strike by its bakers’ union crippled operations.