Twinkies Should Return to Shelves by Summer

Looks like Twinkies have a new owner—and if all goes according to plan, the classic snack could be back in stores within months. Hostess has canceled today's auction for its brands and facilities and will sell them to Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co., investment firms that bid $410 million. As of Monday's bidding deadline, it was the only qualified offer, the New York Times reports. Now the companies, which the Times describes as having "a shared history of corporate turnarounds," await court approval; a hearing is due March 19. As for what this turnaround could look like, the would-be owners gave a few hints: Twinkies in more stores, 100-calorie options, and Zach Galifianakis as potential spokesman.

"We would hope to have this wonder product back on the shelf by early this summer," says a spokesman for Metropoulos, which owns Pabst Blue Ribbon and Vlasic pickles and whose head, C. Dean Metropolous, is poised to be the new CEO for the snacks. Alongside Twinkies rights, the auction included Ho Hos, Ding Dongs, and the rest of its cake brands. Some of Hostess' more savory brands could also learn their fate at the hearing, the Wall Street Journal reports. Mexico's Grupo Bimbo is seeking to purchase Beefsteak rye bread for some $31.9 million, while Flowers Foods—makers of Tastykake—bid $360 million for a range of other bread brands. (More Hostess stories.)