Private equity firms Apollo Global Management and C. Metropoulos & Co. have won the Twinkies and other assets from bankrupt Hostess Brands Inc. with a $410 million bid.

Court documents show the Hostess did not receive any other qualified bids for the assets. If the company had received qualifying bids it would have headed to an auction Wednesday, March 13.

The firms served as joint stalking-horse bidder for the assets, which include Twinkies, Mini Muffins, Cup Cakes, Ho Hos, Zingers and Suzy Q’s. Hostess filed bidding procedures for the assets on Jan. 30

Judge Robert Drain of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York is scheduled to preside over a sale hearing on March 19.

The court entered a notice on March 1 announcing Flowers Foods Inc. was the winning bidder for the majority of the company’s bread assets, as no other qualifying bids had been received.

On March 1, Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV, through subsidiary BBU Inc., was named the winning bidder for the Beefsteak bread brand assets with a $31.9 million bid. The auction for the brand was held Feb. 28. Flowers served as the stalking-horse bidder for the Beefsteak assets with a $30 million bid.

Hostess decided to wind down operations after it failed to resolve issues with the striking bakers’ union. The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCT) and other unions started striking on Nov. 9, which caused the company to lose between $7.5 million and $9.5 million in a matter of weeks, according to court documents.

The strike came after troubled negotiations regarding collective bargaining agreements.The baker filed for bankruptcy protection on Jan. 11, 2012. When the company sought bankruptcy protection, it operated 36 bakeries, 565 distribution centers, 5,500 delivery routes and 570 bakery outlet stores in the U.S.

Hostess, founded in 1930, was one of the largest wholesale bakers and bread distributors in the U.S. In addition to Twinkies, the company’s brands also include Dolly Madison and Drake’s. 

Robert Profusek and John Kane of Jones Day are debtor counsel. Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP is counsel to the committee of unsecured creditors. Hostess has retained Hilco Trading LLC to sell real estate, machinery and equipment. Partners Robert Robison, James Garrity Jr., Andrew Milano and Patrick Fleming of Morgan Lewis and Bockius served as Apollo’s legal counsel for the deal. Gregory Ezring and Brad Finkelstein of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP served as Apollo's finance counsel, while partners Robert Hirsch and Carl Reisner counseled Metropoulos. Eric Rothenberg of O'Melveny & Myers LLP served as Apollo's environmental counsel.