Preliminary results show activist investor wins all 12 seats on board of Darden Restaurants

NEW YORK — An activist investor has won all of the board seats for Olive Garden parent company Darden Restaurants, according to preliminary results announced by the company.

Starboard Value was seeking to replace all 12 board seats with its own slate of nominees at Darden’s annual meeting Friday. The hedge fund has criticized Darden’s management of Olive Garden, as well as how the company handled the sale of Red Lobster.

Both Olive Garden and Red Lobster suffered declining sales in recent years, and Darden’s management has acknowledged the need for changes. The company has been trying to update the menu and marketing for Olive Garden.

Starboard wants to spin off the company’s real estate holdings and has noted Darden could cut costs in operations