Bloomin? Brands, Inc. announced the appointment of Dave George, former Chief Operating Officer of Darden Restaurants, and Jon Sagal, Partner at Starboard Value LP (Starboard), to the company?s Board of Directors, effective immediately. These appointments have been made in connection with a cooperation agreement entered into between the Company and Starboard, which owns approximately 9.7% of the Company?s outstanding common stock, and reflect the Company?s ongoing commitment to constructive shareholder engagement.

In addition, the Company announced the formation of an Operating Committee of the Board. This Committee will work with management to identify and recommend opportunities for further improvement related to various corporate and operational matters. Dave George will serve as the Chair of the Committee, and Jon Sagal and current directors Mike Mohan and John Mahoney have been appointed as members.

Dave George most recently served as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer at Darden Restaurants, a role he held from January 2018 to August 2020. He originally joined Darden in 2007 as a result of Darden?s acquisition of LongHorn Steakhouse as President, LongHorn Steakhouse. Mr. George was named President, Olive Garden in 2013 and Executive Vice President, Darden in 2016.

Prior to his tenure at Darden, Mr. George served as Senior Vice President, Operations for LongHorn Steakhouse from 2001 to 2003 and Vice President, Operations for The Capital Grille from 2000 to 2001. Mr. George was formerly on the Board of Ziosk and is a National Trustee for Boys & Girls Clubs of America. He graduated from Michigan State University, where he received a B.S. in Hotel and Restaurant Management and currently serves on the advisory board of the Broad School of Business.

Jon Sagal is a Partner at Starboard Value LP. Prior to joining Starboard in 2011, Mr. Sagal was an investment analyst at Casablanca Capital, an investment firm focused on shareholder activism. Previously, he was an investment analyst at Mill Road Capital, where he focused on long-term public and private equity investments in microcap companies, and Prentice Capital Management, where he focused on investments in consumer and retail companies.

Prior to Prentice, he was an Investment Banking Analyst in the Mergers & Acquisitions group at Rothschild Inc. Since 2019, Mr. Sagal has served on the board of directors of Acacia Research Corporation, an opportunistic capital platform with a strategy to purchase businesses based on the differentials between public and private market valuations, where he is Chair of the Strategic Committee and served on the Nominating, Corporate Governance & Sustainability Committee. Mr. Sagal also serves on the board of Microlumbia Impact Fund, a student run non-profit fund at Columbia Business School that focuses on microfinance and impact investing. Mr. Sagal received an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and graduated from Princeton University, where he received an A.B. in Philosophy.