After successfully tossing out the entire board of directors at Darden (DRI) last year, Jeffrey Smith’s Starboard Value fund quickly moved on executing its agenda. After all, a dominating win like that sort of gives one that kind of mandate. One of the first moves was eliminating the ‘interim’ tag from CEO Gene Lee. Next came the expected… Read More »
Some activist funds like to work behind the scenes and then there are the others which seem to be in the news almost every day. A day after making waves at Yahoo (YHOO), Jeffrey Smith’s Starboard Value fund was back in the news after long time target MeadWestvaco (MWV) announced plans to spin off its specialty chemical business… Read More »
What to do when a majority of your shareholders support calling a special meeting before you divest an important asset? Go ahead, ignore them, and do what you want, says Darden(DRI). With the $2.1 billion sale of Red Lobster a fait accompli, despite strong opposition from holders, Starboard Value has stepped on the gas in its attack. While… Read More »
While the Olive Garden famously stuffs its patrons with a never ending pasta bowl, its parent company, Darden Restaurants (DRI), is providing investors some never ending drama. Ever since announcing plans to spin off the declining Red Lobster, Darden has been besieged by not one, but two different activist investors. As we noted earlier, Barrington Capital is pushing… Read More »