Darden Urges Shareholders To Vote For Its Eight Director Nominees - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) urged its shareholders to vote "FOR ALL" of its Eight independent director nominees. The Eight director nominees are Michael Barnes, Gregory Burns, Jeffrey Fox, Christopher Fraleigh, Steve Odland, Michael Rose, Maria Sastre and Enrique Silva.

While the Darden Board has left four seats to be filled by Starboard candidates, the Board believes it is appropriate to consider the independence and experience of all 12 of Starboard's director nominees given their role in Starboard's efforts to take effective control of the Company.

"A review of the public record shows that Starboard's proposed slate of directors has significant experience gaps and numerous ties to Starboard and to each other, which raises further concerns in our view about allowing a single minority shareholder - Starboard - to take control of Darden," Darden Restaurants said.