(Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) BY NICHOLE CARTMELL ANCHOR MIKAH SARGENT There’s still hope for Twinkie lovers. CNBC reports two privately owned investment firms are in the lead as bidders for Twinkies and other cake brands. “Hostess has chosen two lead bidders or stalking horse bids for the majority the snack food’s assets, including Twinkie’s, yes, Apollo Global, and Metropoulos. They’ll pay $410 million dollars.” The deal would serve as the opening bid in a coming bankruptcy-court auction for the assets, the so-called stalking horse bid could be topped by other suitors at the auction. This means its possible the bidders could pay more than $410 million dollars, something a Wall Street Journal reporter says is awfully high. “...they are expecting healthy for the cakes assets, whether they are just saying that to drum up enthusiasm has yet to be seen... It is such an iconic brand, I’m just stunned at the price.” Bloomberg reports the total value for the company is almost double officials’ 2011 estimate of $450 million mentioned at a Nov. 29 court hearing. Apollo and Metropoulos will acquire the brands Hostess, Dolly Madison, Mini Muffins, Zingers and Suzy Q’s under the deal. And it appears Hostess Brands’ CEO expects the bid to rise. In a statement he said... “Interest in these iconic brands has been intense and competitive and we expect that to continue through a robust, court-authorized auction process.” However , Forbes questions if these firms can do a better job than the buyout firms whose decisions led Hostess to file bankruptcy for a second time in January of last year. Apollo is a $105 billion-asset private equity company that has a long history of successful deal making. It’s made investments in companies like Vail Resorts and AMC Cinemas. As for Metropoulos, it’s known for a $250 million buyout of Pabst Blue Ribbon, America’s largest privately-held brewer. But The Daily Beast points out no news reports have mentioned what the Baker’s Union will receive from this deal. In the past, the union has blamed management for accepting big wage and benefit cuts. This combined with falling sales as ingredient costs and labor expenses have risen caused Hostess to file bankruptcy again. But the The Daily Beast explains the real story is between the bakers union and the truck drivers, not management—something the press has failed to mention. “... when companies fall on hard times, and there's less money to go around, the disputes are often union versus union.  If we insist on looking at things through the old-fashioned lens, we might miss something big.” Dow Jones Newswires reports Hostess still needs court approval to move forward with the auction process.