Niska Gas Storage has a working capacity of 250.5 Bcf and is one of the largest operators in North America, but the company struggled after its unit price took a nosedive.

Niska Gas Storage Partners’ (NKA) options to recover from an 88% plummet in unit price finally came down to one: sell.

But the MLP pulled off a 222% premium on its low price in a transaction worth $911.9 million, including the assumption of debt. The deal’s value was nearly what the company had lost over the course of a year.

Brookfield Infrastructure, a Niska competitor, paid $4.225 per Niska unit, a sizeable markup on Niska’s closing price of $1.31 on June 12. The transaction will require regulatory approvals, including the OK of the California Public Utilities Commission. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of 2016.

Brookfield has been increasing its liquidity in recent months and had $3 billion after an equity issuance in April.

Niska, based in Radnor, Pa., is the largest independent owner and operator of natural gas storage in North America with a total working gas capacity of 250.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf).

Bill Shea, president, CEO and chairman of Niska Gas Storage Partners LLC, said that when he joined the company his strategy was to diversify the company from being solely dependent on the gas storage business.

“It's probably in today's world not the best thing to be 100% reliant on any one business segment,” he said in a February conference call. “Our idea at the time was to diversify into other gas gathering processing transportation types of businesses.”

But that didn’t work out after a rapid decline in the gas storage markets.

In April, the company said it was considering a sale along with other options. At the time, Niska’s price had slid to $1.90 from a 52-week high of $16.43. In August, the company estimated its enterprise value at $1.1 billion.

In a sign of Niska’s capital weakness since then, Shea said Brookfield will lend the MLP $50 million as part of the deal.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP (BIP) is a partnership that owns and operates utility, transport, energy, and communications infrastructure businesses in North America, South America, Europe and Australia, said Darren Horowitz, analyst, Raymond James.

The acquisition expands Brookfield’s gas storage portfolio in Alberta, where the partnership currently owns 5% of the available gas storage.

Niska's board and Riverstone Investment Group LLC collectively own 53% of Niska’s outstanding units. The boards have approved the deal and no shareholder voting is required, Horowitz said.

Evercore Partners Inc. is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Niska and Riverstone, and Vinson & Elkins LLP and Stikeman Elliot LLP are acting as legal advisers. Norton Rose Fulbright is acting as legal adviser to Brookfield.

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