Activist investor Starboard Value LP, which didn't want Darden Restaurants Inc to sell the Red Lobster seafood chain, is launching a fight to take over the Darden board, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The sale of the struggling seafood chain was a catalyst for Starboard seeking to take over the entire board, the report said. (r.reuters.com/tej59v)In response, a Darden spokesman said in an emailed statement that the board "will consider the Starboard nominations in due course" and it is focused on creating value for all shareholders.Darden said on May 16 it would sell Red Lobster to private equity firm Golden Gate Capital for $2.1 billion in cash. It said the sale was not subject to shareholder approval and should close in the quarter ending in August.Starboard, which owns about 5.5 percent of Darden's outstanding shares, successfully led a shareholder effort to force Darden to agree to hold a special meeting and vote on the Red Lobster divestiture plan. However, the meeting has not yet been set by Darden and some shareholders are concerned the deal will close before investors can weigh in.
Darden Restaurants, Inc. is a full service restaurant company. Shares of DRI traded higher by 1.48% or $0.71/share to $48.69. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $44.78 and as high as $55.25. On average, 1459430 shares of DRI exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1385199.
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