Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. announces Canadian fund merger

TORONTO, Sept. 13 /CNW/ - Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. today announced a proposed merger of Franklin Templeton Canadian Small Cap Fund (the "Terminating Fund") into Bissett Small Cap Fund (the "Continuing Fund"), which will be voted on at a special meeting of securityholders of the Terminating Fund on or about November 19, 2010 in Toronto. While subject to both securityholder and regulatory approval, the proposed merger will be implemented on or about the close of business on November 26, 2010.

The decision to merge these funds will allow Franklin Templeton to streamline its product offering, allocate operational costs across a larger portfolio base and thereby reduce expenses to the general benefit of securityholders.

Securityholders of the Terminating Fund will receive an information circular in late October 2010 detailing the particulars of the proposed merger.

Franklin Templeton Investments

Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE: BEN), a global investment organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments. Franklin Templeton Investments provides global and domestic investment management solutions managed by its Franklin, Templeton, Bissett, Mutual Series, Fiduciary Trust and Darby investment teams. The San Mateo, CA-based company has more than 60 years of investment experience and more than US$600 billion (C$639 billion) in assets under management as of August 31, 2010.

Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. has more than 600 employees providing services to more than one million unitholder accounts and more than 200 pension funds, foundations and other institutional investors. Additional information on Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. can be found at www.franklintempleton.ca.

For further information:

Media contact:
Sarah Kingdon, Franklin Templeton Investments Corp., 416.957.6191