Hostess Asks Court to Approve Demise While U.S. Objects

Hostess Brands Inc., the bankrupt baker of Twinkies and Wonder bread, is seeking permission to pay bonuses to key managers while closing operations that will leave most of its 18,500 workers unemployed as it begins a liquidation that may attract bids from private-equity firms and rivals.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain is to consider Hostess’s request to close its distribution centers and 36 bakeries at a hearing today in White Plains, New York. Hostess said Nov. 16 that it would shut down, claiming that a weeklong strike by its bakers’ union forced liquidation. The union blamed management’s concession demands, while some employees blamed both sides.