Flowers Foods set to buy Hostess brands for $360 million

IRVING, Texas - Hostess bread brands will soon have a new owner.

Reuters is reporting Flowers Foods Inc. is set to buy the bankrupt company, including Wonder Bread, for $360 million.

The bakery company was scheduled to auction the brands, including Butternut, Home Pride, Merita and Nature's Price off Thursday, but Flowers was the sole bidder. An auction will still take place for Beefsteak brand, for which Flowers $30 million offer was outbid by Mexico's Grupo Bimbo.

The transaction must still be approved by a bankruptcy court.

Hostess, which is based in Irving, Texas, announced in November that it was shutting down its business and selling its bread, snacks and cakes brands along with its 33 bakeries and other operations, including a Wonder Bread plant in Tulsa.

Flowers Foods, based in Thomasville, Ga., makes Tastykakes and bread brands including Nature's Own and Cobblestone Mill.