About nine months after Starboard Value LP took control of the board of Olive Garden parent company Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI), the chain has revealed plans to spin off its real estate. Orlando, Fla.-based Darden said it would transfer about 430 of its 586 restaurant-owned properties into a real estate investment trust. In addition, the restaurant chain announced it had expanded its existing program to sell and lease back 31 properties to include 75 units and that it expects to close most of these transactions by August. In March, when it announced the original sale-leaseback program, Darden CEO Gene Lee said the company had received letters of intent from qualified borrowers for a majority of those properties. Darden also plans to conduct a sale-leaseback transaction for its Orlando Support Center property. According to a company spokesman, the majority of the restaurants involved in the REIT are Olive Garden properties owned by Darden.
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