Out Fox The $treet

On Thursday night, Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI) announced a $585M cash transaction to buy Yard House USA. Is this a signal that growth at Darden restaurant mainstays such as Olive Garden and Red Lobster has peaked? Darden Restaurants, the world's largest full-service restaurant company, owns and operates nearly 2,000 restaurants that generate $8.0 billion in annual sales. The company is headquartered in Orlando, Florida, and employs 180,000 people. The restaurant brands include Red Lobster, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, and Eddie V's. In reaction, the stock declined a little over 1% in after hours. The market appears mixed on the deal so far. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

On Tuesday morning, Walgreen (WAG) had a very busy set of announcements with Q312 earnings, a dividend boost, and more importantly the purchase of 45% of Alliance Boots for $6.7B. In reaction, the stock suffered a decline of nearly 6% on a day when the stock market rose roughly 1%. Apparently the market wasn't very happy with some of the announcements. Let's review the details: The Deal The company announced a deal to buy 45% of Alliance Boots for $6.7B. The deal is expected to be accretive by $0.23 to $0.27 in the first year following completion of the deal. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details.