<p> <img class="small-cropped-image" src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacySmallCroppedImages/darden032614body.jpg" alt="Cropped images 032414" />Will there be a new CEO in the works soon for Darden Restaurants? Activist investor Barington Capital Group is pressuring the company to improve its performance by replacing its CEO, Clarence Otis, Jr. with an independent chairman to ensure that shareholder interests are protected, according to Reuters. Although the firm believes Darden can <B>still significantly improve</b> its long-term financial performance, it also claims these goals can only be reached if the “right strategic and operating decisions are implemented by a well-qualified management team.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> “We are dismayed by (Darden CEO Clarence Otis’s) efforts to separate Red Lobster and its valuable real estate from the company without shareholder approval,” said Barington in a letter to Darden’s independent directors on Wednesday, also questioning why the Board did not “select a person with stronger operating experience in the restaurant industry to run Darden.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Darden has long claimed that it is operating in the best interest of all Darden shareholders, suggesting that the company is confident in the actions it was taking to deliver this responsibility. By spinning off or selling its Red Lobster chain, Darden believes it can improve its performance, but both Barington and another activist investor, Starboard Value LP, believe these plans should be put to a shareholder vote. Barington claims a shareholder vote would minimize the time and resources the company spent on the matter, according to ABC News.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> As previously reported by AndNowUKnow, Barington also wants one company to operate the Olive Garden and Red Lobster chains, while another would own other specialty brands like LongHorn Steakhouse or Seasons 52.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> As Darden’s individual meeting with analysts and investors approaches this coming Friday, how might its plans change…or will they at all?<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue following the growing concerns between Darden and its activist investors.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://investor.darden.com/investors/investor-relations/default.aspx" target="_new"> Darden Restaurants </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
