Hope: The Twinkie May Survive After All -- Read How

"We think there's a lot of value in the brands..."

Read our original story on this topic over on TheBlaze blog.

(PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

A crippling nationwide strike last week killed off Hostess Brands Inc., the financially struggling makers of the Twinkie. At the time of the company’s bankruptcy announcement, TheBlaze noted that there was a good chance Hostess’ products would survive, but under a different label.

Here’s how it would work:

Hostess will be in a New York bankruptcy courtroom Monday to start the process of selling itself. The company, weighed down by debt, management turmoil, and rising labor costs, decided on Friday that it no longer could make it through a conventional Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring. Instead, it's asking the court for permission to sell assets and go out of business.

But with high brand recognition and $2.5 billion in revenue per year, other companies are interested in bidding for at least pieces of Hostess. Twinkies alone have brought in $68 million in revenue so far this year, which would look good to another snack-maker.

Hostess has said it has received inquiries about buying parts of the company. Companies reportedly interested in purchasing Hostess' assets include the Thomasville, Ga.-based Flowers Foods Inc., private equity food investment firm Metropoulos & Co., and Mexico's Grupo Bimbo, the world's largest bread-baking firm.

So, yes, there's a possibility that a Mexican company will purchase Hostess' assets and create new jobs -- south of the border.

"We think there's a lot of value in the brands, and we'll certainly be trying to maximize value, both of the brands and the physical assets," Ignon said Sunday. He said it's possible some of Hostess' bakeries will never return to operation because the industry has too much bakery capacity.

"We think there's a lot of value in the brands, and we'll certainly be trying to maximize value, both of the brands and the physical assets," said spokesman Lance Ignon Sunday.

Little will be decided at Monday afternoon's hearing before Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain, Pottow said. The judge eventually will appoint a company that specializes in liquidation to sell the assets, and the sale probably will take six months to a year to complete.

Irving, Texas-based Hostess filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January for the second time in less than a decade. Its predecessor company, Interstate Bakeries, sought bankruptcy protection in 2004 and changed its name to Hostess after emerging in 2009.

The company said it was saddled with costs related to its unionized workforce. The company had been contributing $100 million a year in pension costs for workers; the new contract offer would've cut that to $25 million a year, in addition to wage cuts and a 17 percent reduction in health benefits.

Management missteps were another problem. Hostess came under fire this spring after it was revealed that nearly a dozen executives received pay hikes of up to 80 percent last year even as the company was struggling.

Then last week thousands of members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union went on strike after rejecting the company's latest contract offer. The bakers union represents about 30 percent of the company's workforce.

By that time, the company had reached a contract agreement with its largest union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which this week urged the bakery union to hold a secret ballot on whether to continue striking. Although many bakery workers decided to cross picket lines this week, Hostess said it wasn't enough to keep operations at normal levels.

The company filed a motion to liquidate Friday. The shuttering means the loss of about 18,500 jobs. Hostess said employees at its 33 factories were sent home and operations suspended. Its roughly 500 bakery outlet stores will stay open for several days to sell remaining products.

News of the decision caused a run on Hostess snacks at many stores around the country, and the snacks started appearing on the Internet at inflated prices.

No, seriously: