Red Lobster

This article is about the United States restaurant chain. For other uses, see Red lobster (disambiguation).

Red Lobster Hospitality, LLC
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryRestaurant
GenreCasual dining
FoundedJanuary 18, 1968; 56 years ago (1968-01-18)
Lakeland, Florida, US
FoundersBill Darden
Charley Woodsby
HeadquartersOrlando, Florida, US
Number of locations
649 (2024)
Area served
Key people
Damola Adamolekun (CEO)
Products
RevenueUS$2.6 billion (2018)[2]
Number of employees
55,000[3]
ParentDarden Restaurants/General Mills Restaurants (1970–2014)
Golden Gate Capital (2014–2020)
Thai Union Group (2020–2024)
RL Investor Holdings (2024–present)
WebsiteRedLobster.com
Footnotes / references
[4][5]

Red Lobster Hospitality, LLC is an American casual dining restaurant chain headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company has operations across most of the United States (including Puerto Rico and Guam) and Canada, as well as in China, Ecuador, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates; as of June 23, 2020, the company had 719 locations worldwide.[6][1] Golden Gate Capital was Red Lobster's parent company after it was acquired from Darden Restaurants on July 28, 2014.[7] Seafood supplier Thai Union acquired a 25 percent stake in the company in 2016 for a reported $575 million and in 2020 purchased the remaining portion from GGC.[8]

In May 2024, Red Lobster closed at least 99 of its restaurants[9] and then filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after securing over $100 million in financing commitments from its lenders. The company has also entered a stalking horse agreement to sell itself and have its lenders manage it.[10]

  1. ^ a b "International Franchises | Red Lobster Seafood Restaurants". www.redlobster.com. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  2. ^ "Red Lobster". Forbes.
  3. ^ "Red Lobster Competitors, Revenue and Employees - Owler Company Profile". Archived from the original on June 7, 2020.
  4. ^ "Darden 2011 Annual Report" (PDF). Darden Restaurants, Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 24, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  5. ^ Darden Restaurants, Inc. (May 29, 2011). "FY 2011 10-K". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
  6. ^ "Red Lobster Seafood Restaurants | US". www.redlobster.com. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  7. ^ "Darden Completes Sale Of Red Lobster To Golden Gate Capital". MarketWatch. July 28, 2014. Archived from the original on August 27, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  8. ^ Fuller, Austin (August 31, 2020). "Orlando-based Red Lobster acquired by Thai Union and other investors". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  9. ^ McCarthy, Kelly (May 15, 2024). "Red Lobster closes multiple locations as company prepares to file for bankruptcy". ABC News.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).