J.M. Smucker acquires Hostess, maker of iconic Twinkies, for $5.6 billion

Don Jacobson
·2 min read
A bakery manager stocks shelves at a Schnucks grocery store in Ballwin, Mo., with Hostess Twinkies and CupCakes (2013). Hostess Brands was acquired by J.M. Smucker Co. on Monday for $5.6 billion. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
A bakery manager stocks shelves at a Schnucks grocery store in Ballwin, Mo., with Hostess Twinkies and CupCakes (2013). Hostess Brands was acquired by J.M. Smucker Co. on Monday for $5.6 billion. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
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Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Peanut butter and jelly maker J.M. Smucker Co. on Monday announced it has gobbled up Hostess Brands, owner of the iconic Twinkies sugary snack cake, for a sweet $5.6 billion.

Smucker, maker of such well-known consumer brands as its eponymous line of jams and jellies, Jif Peanut Butter and Folgers Coffee, paid $34.25 per share in the cash-and-stock transaction, which included $900 million in debt financing, the Orrville, Ohio-based company announced.

For its money, Smucker acquired not only Twinkies, but a bevy of other baked treats, including Hostess CupCakes, Ding Dongs, Zingers, Coffee Cakes, Fruit Pies and Ho-Hos.

U.S. manufacturing facilities in Emporia, Kan., Chicago, Columbus, Ga., Indianapolis and Arkadelphia, Ark., are also included in the deal. Hostess, which has declared bankruptcy twice in the past two decades, has 3,000 employees who will now be part of J.M. Smucker.

Chairman and CEO Mark Smucker said that, with the transaction, his company is gaining not only "an iconic sweet snacking platform" but also Hostess' "strong convenience store distribution and leading innovation pipeline."

The Twinkie snack cake, described as a "golden sponge cake with a creamy filling," was invented in Schiller Park, Ill., on April 6, 1930, by baker Jimmy Dewar of the Continental Baking Company. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
The Twinkie snack cake, described as a "golden sponge cake with a creamy filling," was invented in Schiller Park, Ill., on April 6, 1930, by baker Jimmy Dewar of the Continental Baking Company. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

"Our organization is well positioned to deliver on the great potential our expanded family of brands offers, as has been reflected by our history of growth through acquisition and the successful integration of new categories to our business," he said. "We look forward to this exciting new chapter for The J.M. Smucker Co."

Hostess Brands President and CEO Andy Callahan said the deal provides "the right partnership to accelerate growth and create meaningful value for consumers, customers and shareholders."

The first Hostess CupCakes were introduced in 1919. Twinkies were invented in Chicago in 1930 by baker Jimmy Dewar for then-owner Continental Baking Co.

The company filed for bankruptcy in 2004 and then again in 2013, after which its snack cake brands were broken off and sold off to private equity firms Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co. for $410 million.

The new owners took the firm public in 2016, when it was valued at $2.3 billion.

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Jimmy Dewar's last name.