Thomasville, Ga.-based Flowers Foods Inc. has signed two asset purchase agreements with Hostess Brands Inc., Irving, Texas, for numerous Hostess bread brands, bakeries and depots.

Regional, national and international companies have shown interest in purchasing Hostess Brands, according to the company. It says that international companies have also expressed an interest in licensing the brands overseas. It says that interested parties had until Dec. 10 to submit bids for all or part of the shuttered company.

The maker of Tastykake and Nature's Own baked goods may be a likely bidder for some of the assets owned by Hostess, which could help it expand geographically.

Irving, Texas-based Hostess Brands seeks permission to close, so it can begin selling its assets.

Hostess Brands and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union will meet today to discuss the future of the Irving, Texas-based company.

Members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) employed at Irving, Texas-based Hostess Brands Inc. locations across the country began striking on Nov. 9. The company then said it is permanently closing three bakeries nationally in response, and says it has requested bankruptcy-court authorization to close the business and sell its assets.

Members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union employed at Hostess Brands locations across the country began to strike on Nov. 9. The Texas-based company says a widespread strike could cause it to liquidate.

Hostess Brands, which recently week won court approval to start new labor terms on its second-biggest union, filed a plan that would hand majority ownership of the baker to a group of its existing lenders led by Silver Point Finance, LLC. The lenders would get a 75% stake in a restructured Hostess, subject to dilution, while the unions would get the remaining 25% stake.