ISS Proxy Advisory Services Recommends That CKE Restaurants, Inc.’s Stockholders Vote “FOR” Merger

CKE Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: CKR) (“CKE”) announced today that ISS Proxy Advisory Services (“ISS”), a division of RiskMetrics Group, has recommended that CKE’s stockholders vote “FOR” adoption of CKE’s merger agreement with Columbia Lake Acquisition Holdings, Inc. and Columbia Lake Acquisition Corp. at CKE’s Special Meeting of Stockholders that will occur on June 30, 2010. Columbia Lake Acquisition Holdings, Inc. and Columbia Lake Acquisition Corp. are affiliates of Apollo Management VII, L.P. ISS is a leading independent U.S. proxy advisory firm and its voting analyses and recommendations are relied upon by hundreds of major institutional investment funds, mutual funds and fiduciaries throughout the country.

In recommending that CKE’s stockholders vote “FOR” adoption of the merger agreement, ISS stated in part that:

“A vote ‘FOR’ the merger is warranted based on a review of the terms of the transaction…including reasonable premium, the extended strategic review process that ultimately resulted in a substantially higher offer price of $12.55, and the fact that the company’s shares are currently trading at $12.43, which is below the offer price level.”*

*Permission to use quotations from the ISS report was neither sought nor obtained.

As announced on April 23, 2010, CKE entered into a merger agreement with Columbia Lake Acquisition Holdings, Inc. and Columbia Lake Acquisition Corp. pursuant to which CKE’s stockholders will be entitled to receive $12.55 in cash for each share they own, subject to closing of the proposed transaction.

CKE’s stockholders are encouraged to read the definitive proxy statement relating to the merger in its entirety as it provides, among other things, a detailed discussion of the process that led to execution of the merger agreement. CKE’s board of directors recommends that CKE’s stockholders vote “FOR” adoption of the merger agreement.

The vote of each CKE stockholder is very important regardless of the number of shares of common stock that a stockholder owns. A failure to vote will have the same legal effect as a vote against adoption of the merger agreement.