$18-million sale of HBC charter to Thomsons, Westons approved by court

Two of Canada's wealthiest families have cleared the final hurdle on the road to buying and donating the royal charter that created the Hudson's Bay Co.

Two of Canada’s wealthiest families have cleared the final hurdle on the road to buying and donating the royal charter that created the Hudson’s Bay Co.

Ontario Superior Court Judge Peter Osborne gave the shuttered retailer permission Thursday to sell the 355-year-old document to holding companies belonging to the Thomson and Weston families for $18 million.

The families plan to donate the charter immediately and permanently to the Archives of Manitoba, the Manitoba Museum, the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., and the Royal Ontario Museum.

Each of the organizations has already agreed to accept the charter, which was issued by King Charles II on May 2, 1670 and allowed for the creation of HBC, which was then a fur-trading business.

The five-page vellum document was pivotal for the country because it granted HBC control over one-third of modern Canada during its colonization, centuries before Confederation.

It was put up for auction because Hudson’s Bay filed for creditor protection in March and has since closed all of its stores; the defunct company has been selling off its trove of 4,400 pieces of art and artifacts to pay back those owed money.

Osborne approved Thursday an extension of HBC’s creditor protection period to March 31.

The Thomsons, who made their money in the media business, and the Westons, who are giants in the grocery and retail world, were the lone bidders in the charter auction but a court had to approve their joint purchase before it could take place.