NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) October 1, 2012--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it assigned its 'BBB' rating (the same as the long-term corporate credit rating) to Orlando-based Darden Restaurants Inc.'s proposed $300 million senior unsecured notes due 2022. The company plans to use net proceeds from the note issuances for general corporate purposes, including repaying its 5.625% senior notes due October 2012 and repaying short-term debt. The ratings on Darden reflect Standard&Poor's view of its business risk profile as "satisfactory," based on its outperformance relative to industry peers and its market share leader position in a very fragmented industry. Accordingly, we expect Darden will continue to grow revenue and profits over the near term from
