Dive Brief:
- Hostess is expected to return to the Nasdaq stock market Monday, trading as a public company for the first time since being bought out of liquidation nearly four years ago, The Wall Street Journal reported.
- The 86-year-old brand will trade under the Nasdaq ticker symbol TWNK.
- Hostess chose a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) as its vehicle to go public, which will allow Hostess to evade the risks of an initial public offering.
Dive Insight:
Hostess has come a long way since private equity owners Dean Metropoulos and Apollo Global Management LLC bought the snack company for $685 million, a few months after Hostess shut down its factories in November 2012. Those private equity firms still retain a significant stake and managerial roles in Hostess, but in July they struck a $2.3 billion deal with Gores Holdings Inc., Hostess' SPAC. Gores shareholders approved the deal last Thursday.
Industry analysts also recognized the turnaround Hostess has undergone since the private equity duo revived it from liquidation, including relaunching Hostess' bread portfolio. The Boston Consulting Group and IRI named Hostess one of the fastest growing mid-sized CPG companies last year.
Hostess snack cakes and other brands in its portfolio don't tend to align with the health-centric atmosphere of the food and beverage industry today, which worried some investors.
Hostess has instead embraced the indulgent quality of Twinkies and its other snack products. The company's choice of TWNK as its ticker symbol heralds the iconic nature of the Twinkies brand and how critical it has been to Hostess' success.
The company continues to focus on new product development. It also will expand iconic brands like Twinkies and Ho-Hos, which will offer a peanut butter variety in the near future.