New York (Standard&Poor's) June 23, 2015–-Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today said Darden Restaurants Inc.'s announcement of its broad real estate strategy, which includes a combination of a REIT and sale leaseback transactions and a repayment of $1 billion debt using the proceeds, will have no immediate impact on the ratings or outlook. We believe the transactions will add meaningful rent expense to the company's cost structure, reduce asset protection, and result in higher adjusted debt because of greater operating lease adjustments. However, the company's planned $1 billion debt reduction, on-going operating initiatives, and continued improvement in operating performance could offset this. Overall, there is no immediate impact on the ratings since the transactions are still underway and
