Exhibit 99(b)
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:
(Analysts) Matthew Stroud (407) 245-6458
(Media) Mike Bernstein (407) 245-5270
FOR RELEASE
March 22, 2005
4:30 PM EST
WILLIAM M. LEWIS, JR. ELECTED TO DARDEN RESTAURANTS BOARD
ORLANDO, FL - Darden Restaurants, Inc., (NYSE:DRI) has elected William M. Lewis,
Jr., Managing Director and Co-Chairman of Investment Banking at Lazard Freres &
Co. LLC, to its board of directors, effective June 2005. Darden owns and
operates Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze and Smokey Bones Barbeque &
Grill restaurant companies.
"Bill Lewis brings a wealth of experience to Darden, including strong expertise
in corporate strategy generally and financial strategy in particular. He will
add significant value to Darden as we continue to grow as casual dining's market
share leader," said Clarence Otis, Darden's Chief Executive Officer. "Bill is a
highly respected financial services industry leader and will be a tremendous
asset to our company."
"I am delighted to be joining the board of one of the premier casual dining
companies in the world," said Lewis. "Darden is a great company with an exciting
future."
Lazard Freres is a global bank with a 150-year history of providing its clients
strategic advice and creative solutions in the major business areas of financial
advice, asset management and capital markets.
"That Bill has agreed to join our board is a testament to the exciting
opportunities we have at Darden and to the company's strong leadership," said
Joe Lee, Chairman of Darden's Board of Directors. "Bill further strengthens our
talented Board."
Prior to joining Lazard in 2004, Mr. Lewis was a Managing Director and Co-Head
of the Global Banking Department at Morgan Stanley, where he was responsible for
the firm's global industry practices and regions. Between 1994 and 2004, Mr.
Lewis was head or co-head of each of Morgan Stanley's origination and execution
businesses. In addition to the Global Banking Department, these businesses
included the Global Mergers and Acquisition Department and Morgan Stanley
Realty, the firm's real estate investment banking and investing businesses.
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Mr. Lewis is involved in a number of not-for-profit activities including the New
York City Department of Education Fund for Public Schools, the American Museum
of Natural History, the Central Park Conservancy, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund,
Phillips Academy, and the Cancer Research Institute. He has served as treasurer
of the National Urban League and chairman of A Better Chance. Mr. Lewis was
elected to the board of Freddie Mac [NYSE:FRE] in November, 2004.
Mr. Lewis was born in Richmond, Virginia. He graduated with honors in economics
from Harvard College and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. Mr. Lewis
is married to Carol Sutton Lewis, a lawyer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.
Darden Restaurants, Inc., headquartered in Orlando, FL, owns and operates over
1,350 restaurants with annual sales of over $5.0 billion. It is the casual
dining leader in terms of market share and sales.
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.
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