Starboard Responds to Darden's Announced New Slate of Director Nominees for Election at 2014 Annual Meeting

Believes Darden's Reactive, Last-Minute Decision to Delay the Annual Meeting and Propose a New Slate is Just Another Poorly Conceived and Suboptimal Solution

Reiterates that Starboard's Cohesive Slate of Highly Qualified Nominees Represents by far the Best Outcome for Darden Shareholders, with the Best Mix of Complementary Skill Sets and a Comprehensive Turnaround Plan to Create Value for the Benefit for all Shareholders

Dismisses Company's Claims that Election is about "Control" - Believes Election Should Focus on which Board Slate Is Best for the Company and its Shareholders

Provides Case Study on Recent Majority Change in Board Composition of Tessera Technologies, including a Published Quotation from the Chairman of the Board

Urges Shareholders to Vote the WHITE Proxy Card Today to Support Starboard's Slate of 12 Highly Qualified Director Nominees

News provided by

Starboard Value LP

Sep 03, 2014, 01:29 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Starboard Value LP (together with its affiliates, "Starboard"), one of the largest shareholders of Darden Restaurants, Inc. ("Darden" or the "Company")(NYSE: DRI), with beneficial ownership of approximately 8.8% of the outstanding common stock of the Company, today issued a response to Darden's announcement that it has nominated a new slate of director candidates for election to the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board") at the upcoming 2014 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the "Annual Meeting").

The full text of Starboard's response is available for viewing at the following link: http://tinyurl.com/StarboardResponse

Vote for Starboard's 12 highly qualified, independent nominees on the WHITE proxy card today.

If you have any questions or require any assistance with your vote, please contact Okapi Partners LLC at the numbers listed below.

Starboard's definitive proxy materials can be found on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov and Starboard's publicly filed investor materials can be accessed at www.shareholdersfordarden.com.

About Starboard Value LP
Starboard Value LP is a New York-based investment adviser with a focused and differentiated fundamental approach to investing in publicly traded U.S. small cap companies. Starboard invests in deeply undervalued small cap companies and actively engages with management teams and boards of directors to identify and execute on opportunities to unlock value for the benefit of all shareholders.

Investor contacts:
Peter Feld, (212) 201-4878
Gavin Molinelli, (212) 201-4828
www.starboardvalue.com

Okapi Partners
Bruce H. Goldfarb/Patrick McHugh
(212) 297-0720
(877) 285-5990 (Toll-Free)

SOURCE Starboard Value LP