Arkansas Business

Well, its looks as if Pine Bluff's Cookies & Sweets Bakeries LLC couldn't make it happen.

Instead, Hostess Brands Inc., whose products include Twinkies and Ding Dongs, is being purchased by a pair of private equity firms.

According to a news release from the companies:

Hostess Brands Inc. ("Hostess Brands" or "the Company") announced that the stalking horse bid submitted by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC (NYSE: APO) (collectively with its subsidiaries "Apollo") and Metropoulos & Co. ("Metropoulos") for the majority of the Company's snack cake business, which includes both Hostess® and Dolly Madison® branded products, will be the bid presented for approval to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court as no other qualified bids were received for those assets.

Apollo and Metropoulos have agreed to pay $410 million to purchase the brands, five bakeries and certain equipment. Among the products included are the Company's Twinkies®, Ho Hos®, Ding Dongs® and Donettes® snack cakes.

Hostess filed bankruptcy last year, and the world watched to see who would snap up the company's assets, including those iconic brands. At one point, even Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville was rumored to be considering a bid.

And of course, there was the curious case of Cookies & Sweets Bakeries, incorporated in Pine Bluff in 2008 by James Davis. Davis told Arkansas Business that he wanted to take his company public, buy Hostess, and move the headquarters to Detriot. This, despite his business license being listed as revoked, according to the Arkansas Secretary of State's records.

At any rate: Twinkies! They're coming back. The Hostess sale to the two private equity firms goes before a bankruptcy judge for approval next week.