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Darby Overseas Investments, Ltd.: The Honorable Ho Shik Kim Joins Darby Hana Board of Directors

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^{Published in Business and Finance on Tuesday, August 18th 2009 at 8:52 GMT by Market Wire}  

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA and WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - August 18, 2009) - Darby Overseas Investments, Ltd. ("Darby"), the private equity arm of Franklin Templeton Investments, announced that Mr. Ho Shik Kim has joined the Board of Directors of Darby Hana Infrastructure Fund Management Company, the management company for the Korea Emerging Infrastructure Fund ("KEIF"). Mr. Kim will join five existing board members to oversee corporate and investment practices of the Fund.

Mr. Kim joins the Darby Hana Board with a distinguished career in Korea. Most recently, Mr. Kim served a three-year term as President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Pension Service, the largest institutional investor in Korea. Previously he served as Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, and Minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination in the Office of Prime Minister. Mr. Kim received a BS degree from the College of Commerce at Seoul National University and a Masters degree from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

David Hudson, Darby's Senior Managing Director - Asia, Global Infrastructure and Latin America Mezzanine, and Chairman of the Darby Hana Board, commented: "Mr. Kim's highly respected and broad experience in Korea will be very valuable to Darby Hana as we accelerate the pace of investment by KEIF and explore further initiatives in Korea. Along with our Korean partner, Hana Financial Group, we are pleased to be working closely with Mr. Kim."

KEIF is jointly managed by Darby and Hana Financial Group ("Hana"), one of Korea's leading financial institutions. It closed to new investors in 2006 at a total of KRW 580 billion (US$610 million) in committed capital. KEIF makes private equity investments in, and extends mezzanine loans to, private companies engaged in a broad range of activities in the Korean infrastructure sector, including renewables, transportation, environment, logistics, energy and utilities. The fund is managed by Darby Hana Infrastructure Fund Management Company, Ltd., which is owned 70% and 30% by affiliates of Darby and Hana, respectively.

Thus far KEIF has invested KRW 279 billion (approximately US$294 million) of its committed capital in seven companies, including the recent acquisition of the largest equity holding in the largest wind farm in South Korea and among the largest in Asia. KEIF's other investments include waste treatment facilities and toll-road projects throughout the country. Potential infrastructure investments under consideration include renewable energy, environment-related and conventional infrastructure projects in the transport sector.

Darby Overseas Investments, Ltd. was founded in 1994 by The Honorable Nicholas F. Brady, who served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury between 1988 and 1993. Richard Frank joined the firm as CEO in 1997 after his career at the IFC/ World Bank. 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, 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. Franklin Templeton Investments, based in San Mateo, California, has more than 60 years of investment experience and over US$482 billion in assets under management as of July 31, 2009.