Darden Creditors Said to Resist Effort to Break Off Real Estate
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Bondholders of Darden Restaurants Inc. are resisting the company’s push to split off its real estate, rejecting two offers to bless the transaction in exchange for cash, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
A majority of the lenders have declined to provide consent to a plan that would transfer about 430 properties into a real estate investment trust, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. The owner of the Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse chains is following through on a strategy outlined by Starboard Value, the hedge fund that took control of its board after a proxy fight last year.