Kutak Rock attorneys Mitch Padover, Heather Fox and Dave Weill represented a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) in connection with the purchase of over 500 Red Lobster restaurants.

The sale-leaseback transaction allowed the firm’s client to acquire the Red Lobster restaurants located across the United States and Canada. The client then leased the real estate to Golden Gate Capital pursuant to long-term leases. Approximately 20 of the purchased Red Lobster locations were shared with Olive Garden and Bahama Breeze restaurants owned by Darden Restaurants. As a result, the REIT created long-term leases for the additional restaurants to be leased back to Darden as well. The Kutak Rock attorneys assisted the REIT in the preparation and negotiation of the purchase agreements and the leases, as well as the closing of the transaction.