Hostess Brands (Twinkies) on verge of liquidation

[Mr Nice]

Yep. Those hudge fund guys are like vultures tearing apart road kill and leaving the bones on the side of the road.

I was at a 7-11 today buying gasoline and I didn't see any Twinkies on the shelf.

 

[MrQuackers]

I first realized that there is something very wrong with unions when a coworker took me aside and told me I did not know how to work, meaning I was working too hard and making others look bad in comparison.

 

[mechtech2]

I haven't had one in decades. As a kid, they tasted great - more of a cream almost banana taste.
After the new version came out long long ago, never again! Taste like sugar and metallic chemicals.

 

[65cuda]

Of course on the other side of the coin I knew something was very wrong with employment at will when they come up and tell you you're fired. They needed a spot for a relative to start the next week. While I fully agree with you on the union part, although I've never been told or heard anybody say that you need to slow down to keep from making someone look bad. I have known the union though to come up with some really jewel of reasons why a person shouldn't be fired. There are plus and minuses to both.

 

[antiqueshell]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Tastykake seems to be a goner too...


I just had a couple of kandykakes a few months ago, one thing I did notice about them over the past number of years is that they took all the
transfats out of them so they are not as moist and fresh tasting as they used to be say two decades ago or so.

As for twinkies...interestingly enough the current version is NOT how they originally were made. In the beginning they only used natural ingredients and did not stay fresh very long.

I would be very interested in seeing another company bring back the "original recipe" from the beginning.

The transfats issue [censored] me off because whether it is Dunkin Doughnuts, or other store bought mass produced baked goods, they just don't taste as good without them.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
Winston Zeddemore: "Tell him about the Twinkie."

Peter Venkman: "What about the Twinkie?"

Love that movie....


In before the lock...this thread is worthless....

Twinkes and Unions?!

Lame.....

 

[Colt45ws]

Originally Posted By: Cpt. BuzzKill
Needless to say I'm not a fan of what they produce and if they do shutter those brands I'll certainly not notice. The likely upside is a slightly healthier populace in a country without twinkies.

Unlikely. Everyone will find something else to eat.

 

[Kruse]

I hadn't eaten a Twinkie in years. Last night the wife and I were getting groceries and I threw in a package of Twinkies in the shopping cart. I gave a Twinkie to each kid when we got home and I told them that you need to have at least one in your lifetime because they are the butt of a lot of jokes and you can at least say that you've eaten one. They thought they were gross and said they had no desire to ever have one again. Maybe that's the real reason they went bankrupt.
My brothers and sisters get together for Christmas and we have a gag gift exchange. Maybe I'll just use the rest of the Twinkies that I have as part of that.

 

[jcwit]

THE END IS NEAR

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/20115859/hostess-going-out-of-business-nearly-18000-to-be-laid-off

 

[Mr Nice]

18,500 people out of work. What will these folks do ?

It very tuff job market for lower skilled workers.

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
18,500 people out of work. What will these folks do ?
It very tuff job market for lower skilled workers.



Not to say that management wasn't at fault here also, but it looks like the union drew a line in the sand with a stick and then stepped back and leaned forward on the stick. Except the stick just happened to be a sword.

 

[LAGA]

http://dealbreaker.com/private-equity/
This deal was meant to fail. Vulture capitalism at its finest.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Looks to me like a circular firing squad. Stupid.

 

[morepwr]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
18,500 people out of work. What will these folks do ?

It very tuff job market for lower skilled workers.




This is the biggest deal out of all this. There are plenty of other sugary snacks if you want one but these poor people are not exactly having a happy holiday season.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Looks to me like a circular firing squad. Stupid.


Agreed. Seems amazing to want NO JOB instead of perhaps a reduced paying job. Join up in the already overflowing unemployment rolls.

And this is just one of thousands of companies that will be dropping workers and/or hours as things change this coming year!

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Looks to me like a circular firing squad. Stupid.


If the allegations of unfunded pensions are true it was a good time to force Hostess' hand before the workers invested any more of their lives in that sinking ship.

In other words, better to try playing catch-up with a new career at age 40 than to get a piece of mail at age 67 saying, sorry, no money.

 

[3311]

Are the union people who walked out now eligable unemployment? Absolute insanity if they are. Let thier fellow union brothers take care of them.

 

[opus1]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Looks to me like a circular firing squad. Stupid.


If the allegations of unfunded pensions are true it was a good time to force Hostess' hand before the workers invested any more of their lives in that sinking ship.

In other words, better to try playing catch-up with a new career at age 40 than to get a piece of mail at age 67 saying, sorry, no money.
the PBGC would have stepped in.

 

[opus1]

Originally Posted By: Kruse
I hadn't eaten a Twinkie in years. Last night the wife and I were getting groceries and I threw in a package of Twinkies in the shopping cart. I gave a Twinkie to each kid when we got home and I told them that you need to have at least one in your lifetime because they are the butt of a lot of jokes and you can at least say that you've eaten one. They thought they were gross and said they had no desire to ever have one again. Maybe that's the real reason they went bankrupt.
My brothers and sisters get together for Christmas and we have a gag gift exchange. Maybe I'll just use the rest of the Twinkies that I have as part of that.
Put some in a time capsule. They'll still be good in 100 years!

 

[Tempest]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy

Its not just the unions, they are responsible for maybe a third of this, or less.

Its the hedge funds that own all of Hostess debt, they want to collect on their $150M, one way or another.

The best way to do that might be to kill Hostess and sell off parts of the carcass to other companies and investors. Either way someone will make the Twinkie, to much money on the table not to.

What you guys are seeing is a hedge fund make bank on a distressed asset, ie in this case the Twinkie guys. This is how its done. Someone is going to get the profitable parts of the company, the dead weight will be shed, and some hedge fund guys will make so much money this year they won't know what to do with it all, like always. Capitalism at its finest. Oh and they are probably trying to complete the deal before Jan 1st, so this will happen fast.

Not even close. The groups that invested in this company will be losing money.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/hostess-failed-hedge-funds-vs-164815209.html

If these "evil and greedy" investors hadn't put money into the company, it would have closed down in 2004. How good would that have been for the workers?

It simply became not worth their efforts to deal with the unions and they decided to cut their loses.