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As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on
December 19, 2002.
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):
December 19, 2002
Darden Restaurants, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Florida 1-13666 59-3305930
(State or other jurisdiction (Commission file number) (IRS employer
of incorporation) identification No.)
5900 Lake Ellenor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32809
(Address of principal executive offices)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code:
(407) 245-4000
Not Applicable
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
Item 5. Other Events.
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On December 19, 2002, the Company issued a news release entitled
"Darden Restaurants Announces Leadership Promotions," a copy of
which is being filed herewith as Exhibit 99.
Item 7. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(c) Exhibits.
Exhibit Number
(by reference to
Item 601 of
Regulation S-K) Description
99 Press Release dated December 19,
2002, entitled "Darden
Restaurants Announces Leadership
Promotions."
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the Registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
Dated: December 19, 2002 DARDEN RESTAURANTS, INC.
By: /s/ Paula J. Shives
--------------------------------------------
Paula J. Shives
Senior Vice President
General Counsel and Secretary
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INDEX TO EXHIBITS
Exhibit Number Description of Exhibit
99 Press Release dated December 19, 2002, entitled
"Darden Restaurants Announces Leadership Promotions."
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EXHIBIT 99
DARDEN RESTAURANTS
Red Lobster(R)Olive Garden(R)Bahama Breeze(R)Smokey Bones(R)
WWW.DARDEN.COM
NEWS/INFORMATION
Corporate Relations
P.O. Box 593330
Orlando, FL 32859
Contacts:
Jim DeSimone (Media) (407) 245-4563
Matthew Stroud (Analysts)(407) 245-5550
FOR RELEASE
December 19, 2002
4:30 p.m. EST
DARDEN RESTAURANTS ANNOUNCES LEADERSHIP PROMOTIONS
ORLANDO, FL - Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI), owner and operator of the Red
Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze and Smokey Bones BBQ Sports Bar casual
dining restaurant brands, today announced key promotions and a restructuring of
its senior management team.
Dick Rivera, 55, Vice Chairman of Darden, is being promoted to President
and Chief Operating Officer of the parent corporation.
Clarence Otis, 46, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of
Darden, is being appointed President of Smokey Bones restaurants. Clarence will
continue in his role as Executive Vice President of Darden to work with Dick and
Joe Lee, the company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, to provide
leadership of Darden's executive management committee.
Linda Dimopoulos, 52, who is Senior Vice President, Chief Information
Officer, of Darden and has served as corporate controller and controller of Red
Lobster, is being promoted to Chief Financial Officer of Darden.
Matthew Stroud, 37, Senior Director, Investor Relations, is being promoted
to Vice President of Investor Relations for Darden.
Brad Blum, 48, also a Vice Chairman of Darden, is leaving the company to
accept a position as Chief Executive Officer of Burger King Corporation.
"We are very excited about these organizational changes, which reflect
Darden's leadership depth and commitment to leadership development," said Lee.
"We want to be a company that provides opportunities for our leaders inside the
Darden family and we recognize that others in the restaurant industry, like
Burger King, will also appreciate the depth of our talent."
-MORE-
Darden established a new leadership structure in March designed to leverage
the skills of its diverse team of strong leaders and build an even stronger,
broader platform to grow the company. At the time, new presidents of Red Lobster
and Olive Garden were appointed.
Today's appointments further strengthen our operating leadership
restructure with the appointment of Mr. Otis to lead Smokey Bones, and Mr.
Rivera as the company's president and chief operating officer.
The promotions of Ms. Dimopoulos and Mr. Stroud complete the leadership
promotions ensuring continued strong financial expertise at the chief financial
and investor relations positions of the company.
"We'll miss Brad," said Lee. "He is a talented and creative visionary who
helped build Darden Restaurants into an industry leader. We wish him well in his
new position.
"We're excited about the new leadership changes. Red Lobster and Olive
Garden are operating very well and our emerging growth companies, Bahama Breeze
and Smokey Bones have tremendous potential," said Joe Lee. "I'm very proud of
this team."
Darden Restaurants, Inc., headquartered in Orlando, FL, owns and operates
over 1,200 Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze and Smokey Bones restaurants
with annual sales of $4.4 billion.
Forward-looking statements in this news release, if any, are made under the
Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Certain important factors could cause results to differ materially from those
anticipated by the forward-looking statements, including the impact of changing
economic or business conditions, the impact of competition, the availability of
favorable credit and trade terms, the impact of changes in the cost or
availability of food and real estate, government regulation, construction costs,
weather conditions and other factors discussed from time to time in reports
filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
-END-