Creditors still eating up Hostess

Two years after Hostess Brands collapsed, creditors are still eating up the crumbs.

The once-iconic American bakery has paid out more than $1 billion to debtholders since it shut down operations amid a labor dispute and laid off more than 18,000 workers in 2012.

In that time, Hostess's three most senior creditor groups have made a full recovery after the maker of Twinkies was sold off in bits and pieces.

Now, even junior creditors who appeared to be completely out of the money are angling for at least $15 million held by insurers as collateral for workers' compensation.

Philadelphia-based ACE Insurance is holding a total of $84 million in cash — way more than the legacy Hostess argues it needs to cover workers' comp claims.

The collateral is "more than sufficient," Hostess Treasurer David Rush told The Post.

The workers comp fund is just icing on the cake for so-called fourth-lien creditors — some of whom bought Hostess debt for pennies on the dollar after the company had already collapsed.

"This debt was trading at pennies," a hedge-fund investor said. "Now it is at 10 cents on the dollar and holders have already been paid 30 cents."

The debtholders have collected $62 million and are owed $169 million in principal and interest as of May 31. That group includes Cyrus Capital and Solic Capital, according to sources.

If the creditors get their way, the company would have paid essentially all its secured creditors.

Last year, Hostess sold off the last of its major cake and bread brands, bringing the total proceeds from its liquidation to about $860 million.

Metropoulos & Co. teamed with Apollo Global Management to buy Twinkies and other Hostess cakes, while other brands such as Wonder bread and Drake's Cakes were sold to rival baking outfits.

Meanwhile, workers and vendors are having a tougher time getting a bite of Hostess.

Former Queens Hostess driver Tom Parcase, for instance, just this month won the right to keep receiving workers compensation after ACE tried to cut him off in court.

His $380 a week is half the money he was earning as a 14-year driver when he injured his shoulder in 2012, Parcase told The Post.

ACE said it does not comment on pending litigation.

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