Darden to sell Red Lobster for $2.1 billion to Golden Gate Capital
Darden Restaurant Inc. has agreed to sell its Red Lobster seafood restaurant chain to San Francisco private equity firm Golden Gate Capital for $2.1 billion, flouting the warnings of some of its shareholders.
The all-cash deal — which activist investor Starboard Value in February publicly called a “potential destruction of shareholder value” — will allow Darden to focus more on what Chief Executive Clarence Otis calls the “Olive Garden renaissance program.”
After tax and transaction costs, the Red Lobster sale will leave Darden with $1.6 billion. The Orlando, Fla. company plans to use $1 billion to retire outstanding debt and up to $600 million to fund a new share repurchase program.
The moves are expected to improve the company’s creditworthiness. Darden says it is the world’s largest full-service restaurant company with more than 2,100 units under brands such as Olive Garden, Yard House and Capital Grille.
Red Lobster will join a $12-billion portfolio at Golden Gate that includes such major consumer names as California Pizza Kitchen, Eddie Bauer, Pacific Sunwear and Payless Shoe Source.
In March, Darden said Red Lobster saw same-store sales decline 8.8% and visits plunge 11.9% compared to the same period a year earlier. The company said last year that it would either sell or spin off the chain’s 705 units.
Darden said it underwent “a robust process to maximize the value potential of a sale or spinoff of Red Lobster and its real estate assets.”
The deal, which Darden’s board unanimously approved, is set to close in the first quarter of 2015 and, while subject to regulatory approval, does not need to be cleared by shareholders.
“We believe this agreement addresses key issues that our shareholders have raised, including the need to preserve the company’s dividend and regain momentum at Olive Garden,” Otis said in a statement.
