The Hudson's Bay Company has chosen the new owners of the royal charter that created the company more than 350 years ago.

The Thomson and Weston families made an uncontested $18-million bid for the 1670 document through their holding companies and will donate it to a group of four museums.

The purchase is subject to court approval as part of the Hudson's Bay insolvency proceedings.

The announcement confirms that no one came forward to bid against the Thomsons and Westons in the Dec. 3 sale hosted by the shuttered retailer and its financial adviser Reflect Advisors.

When the deal closes, 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.

The

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