Last month, Dealscape highlighted Jim Cramer's assertion that Darden
Restaurants Inc. could be a prime buyout candidate. It seems the Mad Money
host may not be far off the mark about the parent of Olive Garden and Red
Lobster. Over the weekend, the company closed 54 of its Smokey Bones
restaurants and put the remaining 73 barbecue joints on the block. Cramer
argued that Darden's main attraction is its real estate because it owns about
60% of its 1,390 U.S. locations. However, with a market cap of $5.8 billion,
BloggingBuyouts
suggested in response to Cramer's assertions that there are better
opportunities for private equity firms interested in a restaurant purchase.
—Matthew Wurtzel
See
story from the Tampa Bay Business Journal
See
earlier post from Dealscape
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