Lance Offers $30 Million for Bankrupt Archway/Mother's

Archway and Mother's Cake and Cookie Company may be resurrected next month if a $30 million bid on the company's assets from Lance, a North Carolina snack company, is accepted.

The company abruptly shut down last month and declared bankruptcy. Archway's brands include Circus Animal Cookies, Salerno Butter Cookies and Archway Oatmeal Cookies.

Other bidders could still make competing offers under Archway's bankruptcy agreement. The deadline for bids is next Tuesday. The asset auction will be held Dec. 1.

Archway is owned by Catterton Partners, a private-equity shop that cited the credit crunch as a reason for the shutdown.

Lance said that if its bid was accepted, it would finance the purchase through its existing lines of credit.

Archway was founded in 1930. It faces lawsuits from employees who claim the company violated both federal and California state laws by not giving sufficient notice of the shutdown.