Darden books $2.1 billion price for Red Lobster seafood chain

[riky]

Darden books $2.1 billion price for Red Lobster seafood chain

<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/darden-sell-red-lobster-seafood-chain-2-1-121102397--sector.html"><img src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/36tGPRewLjErr3E_zWJ.Sg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9NzU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/Reuters/2014-05-16T121102Z_1_CBREA4F0XUY00_RTROPTP_2_USA.JPG" width="130" height="86" alt="Passersby walk in front of the Times Square Red Lobster restaurant in New York" align="left" title="Passersby walk in front of the Times Square Red Lobster restaurant in New York" border="0" /></a>(Reuters) - Darden Restaurants Inc said it would sell Red Lobster to private equity firm Golden Gate Capital for $2.1 billion in cash, defying activist investors who opposed plans to shed the struggling seafood chain. Darden said the sale was not subject to shareholder approval and should close in the quarter ending in August. Hedge fund Starboard Value LP, which owns about 5.5 percent of Darden's outstanding shares, opposed a sale or spinoff of Red Lobster, saying it could destroy as much as $800 million of shareholder value. &quot;The announced sale woefully undervalues Red Lobster and its real estate assets,&quot; Starboard Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Smith said in an emailed statement.</p><br clear="all"/>

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