Franklin Templeton Investments said it awaits final Romanian government approval of its February 2010 investment management agreement to manage the $4 billion Fondul Proprietatea.
“There is more urgency to securing Government approval of this agreement as victims of the communist expropriation of property still awaits compensation. We are now ready to act and have established operations in Romania to undertake this important assignment”, said David Smart, global head of sovereign funds and supranationals for Franklin Templeton Investments.
Many Romanians feel, he continued, that the selection of Franklin Templeton as the investment manager of Fondul Proprietatea will bring several benefits to Fund stakeholders, which include greater market liquidity, increased research capabilities into, and supervision of the Fund’s portfolio holdings and greater foreign investment in the Romanian market, which in turn should increase tax revenues to the Government while providing greater transparency and opportunity for shareholders.
“We have been investing in Romania for a number of years, and see great opportunity here for both domestic and foreign investors. To that end, our first priority after being appointed manager of Fondul Proprietatea will be to list the Fund on the local Bucharest Stock Exchange. We also intend to seek an additional listing for the Fund on an international exchange to increase liquidity in the Fund’s shares and attract international investor interest to the Romanian market”, said Mark Mobius (photo) executive chairman of the Templeton Emerging Markets Team.
Since the two parties signed the investment management agreement in February 2010, Franklin Templeton has undertaken several steps to establish its presence in Romania. So far, Franklin Templeton established an office in Romania, for which it received approval from the Roman
