TORONTO - No competing bids for Hudson’s Bay’s royal charter have emerged, paving the way for the Thomson and Weston families to purchase the artifact for $18 million, a source says.

The Canadian Press is not naming the source familiar with the auction process because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The charter signed by King Charles II in 1670 is one of the oldest documents connected to Canada and even predates the country. It created Hudson’s Bay and gave the business a fur-trading monopoly along with control of one-third of modern Canada and Indigenous relations for decades to come.

It has been in need of a new home since HBC filed for creditor protection in March and began selling assets, including its leases and 4,400 pieces of art and artifacts, to make back some of th

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