By JOSH KOSMAN

The last remaining boxes of Hostess Brands “Twinkies” are on display at a Jewel-Osco grocery store in Chicago on Dec. 11.          REUTERS

Billionaire private equity mogul Leon Black is the new Mr. Twinkie.

Black’s Apollo Global Management was the only entity to make a bid for the snacks business of bankrupt Hostess Brands – grabbing ownership of the stable of well known brands for $410 million, The Post has learned.

The private equity firm — known for making money off distressed assets — teamed with veteran food exec Dean Metropoulos on the bid for the business, which also includes Ho-Hos, Donettes and Dolly Madison in addition to Twinkies.

The deadline for bids was Monday at 5 p.m.

Hostess creditor Silver Point Capital and Hurst Capital in recent days had submitted letters indicating an intention to bid – but in the end neither stepped up to the plate with a firm proposal.

There were competing bids for Hostess’ other snack cake brand, Drake’s, which includes Devil Dogs, Funny Bones and Yodels. Suitors will compete against “stalking horse” bidder McKee Foods, the owner of Little Debbie, in a bankruptcy auction scheduled for tomorrow.

For the 18,000 workers who lost their jobs in November when Hostess closed its doors — this is not good news as Apollo, sources said, plans to outsource distribution to third-party drivers, and there is talk that much of Hostess snack production will be done through existing bakeries, not at one or more of the 33 shuttered Hostess bakeries.

Apollo will purchase and run some plants but will not look to hire all the laid off bakers, sources close to the company said.

The roughly $640 million financing package to purchase and operate the Hostess snacks business consists of $240 million in cash and $400 million in loans, sources said.

The deal mean lovers of Twinkies and other Hostess snacks food could see their favorites back on store shelves by September, sources said.

Metropoulos has a long history in buying troubled food brands.

In the spring of 2001 Dallas private equity firm Hicks Muse Tate & Furst Inc. teamed with Metropoulos to acquire Swanson frozen food, and Vlasic Pickle from bankrupt Vlasic International.

Focusing on making the company leaner, Metropoulos slimmed down the corporate headquarters. He relied on a small group of six or seven people – including his family — to help him run all the brands.

He also combined plants and cut benefits.

Metropoulos boosted profits and made much money for Hicks Muse — but did not necessarily increase market share for the well-known brands.

Take, for example, his efforts for one of the brands: Swanson’s Hungry-Man line of dinners. Metropoulos tried to appeal to the brand’s core audience and launched a new Hungry-Man Sports Grill sub-line, which included “Beer Battered Chicken and Cheese Fries,” “Double Decker Chicken Quesadilla with Potato Skins” and “Stuffed Pulled Pork with BBQ Sauce in Flatbread with Cheese Fries.”

Swanson’s Hungry-Man for the year ending April 9, 2000, generated $158 million in North American sales, according to Information Resources Inc. In the year ending May 20, 2007, it fell to $112 million, a steep 29 percent decline during what was largely Metropoulos’ watch.

Flowers Foods has already won an uncontested auction to buy most of the Hostess’ bread business, which includes Wonder Bread.

via Leon Black’s Apollo Global new owner of Twinkies, other Hostess snack brands – NYPOST.com.