J.M. Smucker to buy Hostess for $4.6 billion

J.M. Smucker to buy Hostess for $4.6 billion

J.M. Smucker is buying snack cake company Hostess for about $4.6 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

As part of the deal, Smucker will assume Hostess’s debt of roughly $900 million. The deal is expected to close in January, according to CNBC.

Kansas-based Hostess was founded in 1930 and is known for the popular snacks Twinkies, Ho-Hos and Ding Dongs. It was acquired a decade ago by Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co., which resurrected the company after several months where Twinkies disappeared from shelves.

Smucker’s brands includes jellies, Jif peanut butter, Folgers coffee, Milk-Bone dog treats and frozen, crustless sandwiches known as “Uncrustables,” which will be made at the company’s McCalla plant, currently under construction.

First announced in 2021, the plant will be part of the Jefferson Metropolitan Park, a 739-acre industrial park along U.S. 11 about a mile from Interstate 20/59 and two miles from I-459.

The plant is expected to bring 750 jobs.