TORONTO - Two of Canada’s wealthiest families have agreed to team up to open the bidding for the royal charter that formed Hudson’s Bay at $18 million.

New court documents say holding companies belonging to the Weston and Thomson families have joined forces to put an even higher price tag on the document they previously each sought to buy individually.

If a court approves the auction to go ahead and the families win the sale, records say they will donate the document to a consortium of four public institutions.

The institutions are the Archives of Manitoba, the Manitoba Museum, the Canadian Museum of History and the Royal Ontario Museum.

The Westons and Thomsons would also give the organizations $5 million to fund the conservation, education and tours for the charter.

Hudson’s Bay pla

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