Darby Converging Europe Mezzanine Fund Makes Fifth Investment

Darby Overseas Investments, Ltd. ("Darby"), the private equity arm
of Franklin Templeton Investments, announced that its Darby Converging
Europe Mezzanine Fund (DCEMF) committed EUR 20 million to a leveraged
buyout of DDSG Cargo Group, a leading river transportation company
based in Vienna.

DDSG and its subsidiaries together operate a fleet of more than
250 vessels on the Danube and Rhine rivers, from the Black Sea to the
North Sea. The company is one of the largest inland waterway shipping
companies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The buyout of DDSG,
totaling EUR 100 million, was sponsored by East Point Holdings (EPH),
a Serbian-controlled conglomerate active in the trading of grains and
other commodities.

Robert D. Graffam, Darby's Senior Managing Director - Europe,
commented: "We believe that the market for inland waterway shipping on
the Danube, currently constrained by inadequate supply, will
experience significant expansion in the future. This can be attributed
to overall economic growth in the CEE region as well as economic and
environmental factors that favor waterway transportation since it is
less expensive and produces less pollution. As a long-standing and
significant player in this market, DDSG is well positioned to benefit
from these trends."

Zoran Drakulic, President of EPH, said: "We are pleased to be
initiating this new partnership with Darby. Their financial support
and advice were of critical importance in our success in winning the
DDSG auction."

Darby has played a pioneering role in bringing mezzanine - a
hybrid of both debt and equity - to emerging market regions, initially
Latin America, then to Asia and more recently to Central and Eastern
Europe. DDSG is the fifth investment by DCEMF. The fund's other
investments include AS Rigas Piensaimniekes, a leading dairy products
concern in Latvia; UNO, the leading industrial bakery in the Turkish
market; Ceske Radiokomunikace, the dominant broadcast and leading
alternative telecommunications services provider in the Czech
Republic; and FiberNet Group, one of the leading CEE cable television
operators, offering cable television, broadband internet and telephony
services with a focus on Hungary, Bulgaria and Ukraine

Darby Overseas Investments was founded in 1994 by The Honorable
Nicholas F. Brady, who served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
between 1988 and 1993. In 2003 Darby became a fully owned subsidiary
of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN), a global investment management
organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments. Franklin
Templeton Institutional, which is part of Franklin Templeton
Investments, provides global and domestic investment management
solutions managed by the Franklin Global Advisers, Templeton, Franklin
Templeton Fixed Income, Franklin Templeton Real Estate Advisors, Darby
and Mutual Series investment management teams. The San Mateo,
California-based company has 60 years of investment experience and
approximately US$620 billion in assets under management as of May 31,
2007.