TC Energy announced on Tuesday that the $1 billion minority stake sale deal in its Western Canadian natural gas transmission network to a consortium of Indigenous communities has been delayed.

The Calgary-based pipeline company said the agreement, announced in July, was being postponed due to a "transaction structuring issue within the NGTL partnership."

The deal would have granted 72 Indigenous communities a 5.34% stake in TC Energy's Nova Gas transmission system and Foothills pipeline assets, a combined 25,000-kilometer natural gas infrastructure network.

TC Energy said it is working to address the issue and ensure the transaction "delivers meaningful distributions to Indigenous communities while upholding the fundamental value" of the assets involved.

The deal was backed by the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corp. and negotiated by a consortium committee representing Indigenous communities across Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan.   

Inclusive of debt, the deal has a total enterprise value of $1.65 billion, making it Canada's largest-ever Indigenous equity ownership agreement.