Darden Restaurants

A month after opening its first Red Lobster in Dubai, Darden Restaurants has entered into a formal area-development agreement to build and operate Olive Garden, Red Lobster and The Capital Grille brands in Mexico. The agreement calls for CMR, Mexico’s leading casual-dining company, to open some 37 restaurants in the country over the next five years. CMR operates more than 100 restaurants in 26 cities in Mexico. Darden, based in Orlando, Fla., operates more than 1,900 restaurants. darden.com