ISS, Glass Lewis Recommend For All Of Starboard's Nominees For Darden

(RTTNews) - Starboard Value LP, one of the largest shareholders of Darden Restaurants Inc (DRI), said Tuesday it was gratified by the support from proxy voting advisory firms, Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") and Glass Lewis & Co. LLC, which recommended that Darden shareholders vote in favor of Starboard's twelve board nominees.

Starboard, which has beneficial ownership of about 8.8% of the outstanding common stock of Darden, wants to rejig the Darden board. Starboard had released a detailed transformation plan for the company, including raising the EBITDA and company-wide operational improvements.

Starboard also announced today that Proxy Mosaic, a corporate governance research firm, has issued a report recommending that Darden shareholders vote in favor of Starboard's nominees. Like ISS and Glass Lewis, Proxy Mosaic concluded that Starboard's slate is "far more compelling" and has "superior industry experience."

Earlier today, Darden said that independent proxy advisory firm, Egan-Jones Proxy Services, has reaffirmed its recommendation that Darden shareholders vote on the company's slate of board nominees at the annual meeting to be held on October 10.