Canadian Trading Partners Buys Stake in InStorage

A U.S. operator of self-storage facilities has taken a 19.6 percent stake in InStorage Real Estate Investment Trust and indicated it may increase its holding and make a takeover bid for Canada's biggest self-storage owner.

Canadian Trading Partners LLC (CTP), part of Warburg Storagemart Partners LP of Columbia, Mo., acquired 2.4 million InStorage units from Sentry Select Capital Corp. for $8.9 million. This raises the Canadian Trading Partners stake to 4.8 million units or 19.6 per cent of InStorage.

CTP is currently considering the offer to acquire additional units but may at any time reconsider, Canadian Trading Partners stated Tuesday. 

Trust units in InStorage, which has 52 properties in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec, closed Tuesday at $1.65 on the TSX, down from $8.50 a year ago and representing a market value of $40.8 million. For more information, visit www.instoragereit.ca/.