01:00 PM EDT, 09/04/2025 (MT Newswires) -- BTB Real Estate Investment Trust (BTB-UN.TO) on Thursday had its Sector Perform rating and its Target price of $3.30 maintained at National Bank of Canada after shareholder Ewing Morris offered to buy up to 8.0 million BTB units at $3.80 per unit, for a maximum value of $30.4 million.

The bank noted the offer price, active until 5:00 p.m. (EST) on Sept. 30, represents a 3% premium to Wednesday's close and a 4% premium to the 20-day VWAP and is well above its $3.30 target.

"Assuming the offer is completed in full, the fund's ownership would reach 9.1% of units outstanding (note that this represents a new position for Ewing Morris as pre-offer ownership was just 100 units)," said analyst Matt Kornack.

"While we view the offer as fair, in the context of current REIT valuations, it is clear that a savvy investor sees upside to current trading levels," Kornack added.

National Bank said given its view on valuation and relative trading price performance, the bank "would encourage tendering a portion of one's holdings into the bid." It added leverage remains "elevated" and narrowing the discount is "unlikely to happen overnight."

"It's hard to see an en-bloc sale of this portfolio although a sum-of-the-parts wind-up would be possible," said Kornack "As a going concern the challenge of scaling while reducing leverage levels has historically been an impediment to a multiple re-rating on the story."

(MT Newswires covers equity, commodity and economic research from major banks and research firms in North America, Asia and Europe. Research providers may contact us here: https://www.mtnewswires.com/contact-us)

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