Hostess Judge Approves Request to Wind Down Twinkie Maker

Hostess Brands Inc. won interim approval from a bankruptcy judge to shut down and start selling the Twinkie maker’s assets after last-minute mediation with its bakers’ union failed to resolve a contract dispute, leaving more than 18,000 jobs at risk.

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