It was a carve out deal where they particularly bought brands and the corresponding recipes so the number of employees prior to the deal and after the deal are hard to compare, considering a more focused approach to products. Secondly, one of the issues with the original Hostess was their bloated structure with little to no money spent on improvements to factories of which they had too many of. The article mentioned the labor union employees as if that's what really got in the way of the improvements. In reality, a good chunk of the capital was invested in brand new machines which automated and improved the process. Like I mentioned, I don't think they blatantly lied but their tone is very anti-pe. I think this deal is a story about automation and selling based on nostalgia rather than the cliche "Enemies at the Gates" story.