Pension fund begins class-action suit over Darden's recent bylaw changes
SEAFOOD.COM NEWS April 14, 2014
A group of shareholders sued Darden Restaurants Inc. on Friday, alleging that recent changes to its corporate bylaws are designed to frustrate stockholders' right to vote on a plan to shed its Red Lobster chain.
The lawsuit, filed by pension funds for the City of Birmingham, Ala., as a potential class action on behalf of other stockholders, is a boost for activist investor Starboard Value LP, which for months have urged the company to split its Red Lobster, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants from its more upscale chains, and place its real-estate holdings in a new company.
Darden in December said it would spin off Red Lobster only, a plan it says doesn't require a shareholder vote.
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