A deal touted as Canada's largest equity purchase by an Indigenous partnership may not be completed as planned because of an undisclosed snag at TC Energy Corp. (TRP.TO, TRP), which had previously agreed to sell the minority stake in its Alberta gas pipeline network, The Globe and Mail is reporting Wednesday.

Francois Poirier, TC Energy's chief executive officer, said on Tuesday that a deal with the partnership may take some form other than the $1-billion divestiture the company announced in July. The company had disclosed in September that the sale of the Nova Gas Transmission Ltd. and Foothills pipeline systems stake was delayed "due to an identified transaction structuring issue" at the pipeline ownership level.

"So we're back to the drawing board and working very hard with the communities to come up with a solution, but it may come in a form that's different from an outright equity ownership interest," Poirier said on Tuesday in response to an analyst's question at TC Energy's analyst and investor day event. He did not elaborate on a potential new arrangement.

In a separate story, the newspaper cited the CEO as saying Donald Trump's return to the White House is good news for Canada's energy sector and an opportunity for TC Energy.

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally, and/or from other media sources. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)