Yes, Twinkies Can Survive a Zombie Apocalypse
Last week, it was announced that Smucker’s would acquire Hostess Brands for $5.6 Billion (yes with a B) dollars. What’s better than peanut butter, jelly and Twinkies? All kidding aside, this acquisition shows that the value of a company is not so clear on the surface. Some of the key reasons why Hostess was attractive to Smucker’s were as follows:
- It expands their access to convenience and small grocery retailers (improved distribution)
- It provides new and innovative way to sell their existing product line (think bite sized packaged Uncrustables)
- It enhances Smucker’s packaged snack food offering, which is a growing and in demand marketplace.
I highlight the reasons above because many business owners tend to get complacent with their product or service offering and may miss a shift in their markets (just look at the history of Hostess). Companies that have leaders who constantly think of ways to expand into new markets, work on developing new products and/or move quickly to take advantage of growth trends typically succeed over time. The acquisition of Hostess clearly fits this mindset.
Time will tell (or more importantly the stock price will show) if Smucker’s makes the Hostess acquisition a success. However, given the Twinkies maker has filed for bankruptcy multiple times since the turn of the century and continues to survive, I would think there is value to this purchase. More importantly, this acquisition confirms that Twinkies can outlast anything you throw at them, including a zombie apocalypse.
Here are a few other things that may be of interest:
- NLRB General Counsel Targets Non-Solicitation Agreements as well as Non-Competes | Littler Mendelson P.C.
- IRS Imposes Freeze on ERC Claims Amid Concerns of Fraud (troutcpa.com)
- Surviving IRS Scrutiny: Partners’ Arm’s Length Valuation Agreements (troutcpa.com)
As always, please don’t hesitate to email myself (jsanders@mpl-law.com), Andy Miller (amiller@mpl-law.com), Christian Miller (cmiller@mpl-law.com), Erik Spurlin (espurlin@mpl-law.com), Brad Leber (bleber@mpl-law.com) or anyone in our office with questions or comments.
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