Hostess Brands will sell.
Numerous financial media outlets say jelly maker JM Smucker is buying Hostess for $5.6 billion. The company has confirmed the pending sale. The deal could close at some point in Smucker’s third quarter, which ends in January. Hostess shareholders are set to receive $30 in cash as well as partial shares of Smucker stock for each share of Hostess they currently own.
Shares of Hostess jumped nearly 20 percent in pre-market trade Monday, while Smucker shares fell almost 8 percent. Hostess shares have risen about 25 percent this year, but the company has seen demand for Twinkies and Ding Dongs fade as it boosted prices to offset commodity cost increases.
How this move impacts the Emporia bakery has not been announced. Hostess was founded in Lenexa in 1930 and has had a production presence in Emporia for decades. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2004 and 2012. In the second proceeding, C. Dean Metropolous and Apollo Global Management purchased Hostess, made Emporia the company’s nationwide production hub and reaped immediate financial rewards. The company returned to the stock market in 2016 and was generating revenue of over $1 billion by 2020.
