A mystery bid has been made for Hudson’s Bay Co. ‘s Royal Charter, a historical document that gave HBC exclusive trading rights over a portion of Canada in 1670, delaying plans for an auction that the company was originally going to seek approval for in court on Monday.

“Late last night, there was a development,” Ashley Taylor, a partner at Stikeman Elliot LLP, the firm representing HBC, said. “We received another unsolicited bid in respect of the charter … we’re asking for an adjournment for a few days so we can take a breath, think out the best next steps and then come back to the court to seek approval of our auction process.”

The company did not reveal information about the new bid. The sale of the charter is just one of the steps HBC has taken to pay back its creditors, from whom the company sought protection in court. Aside from the charter, the company is trying to sell other artifacts that it owns. It has already sold its intellectual property rights and is in the process of completing the sale of its leases.

The process of selling the Royal Charter has garnered plenty of interest due to its historical importance.

Initially, HBC wanted to include it as part of an auction for more than 1,700 pieces of art and over 2,700 artifacts. But in June, it said it had reached a $12.5-million deal to sell the charter to Whittington Investments Ltd., a private entity owned by the Weston family that would donate it to the Canadian Museum of History. The document would also be shared with museums and Indigenous groups across Canada.

In August, however, HBC received another offer of at least $15 million from DKRT Family Corp., according to court documents, and said other parties could be interested.

As a result, HBC decided to host a separate auction for the charter and was to seek approval on Monday, but its lawyers requested an adjournment instead.

Justice Peter Osborne of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice approved that request and the next hearing will take place on Oct. 9.

However, he said he was “concerned and increasingly so about the process” and that he was going to “keep this on the rails.”

He said all the parties agree on the “importance and relevance” of the Royal Charter to all Canadians and to various groups, “including, but not limited to certain Indigenous groups who have expressed a particular interest in this as well. So, we’re going to do this right, not fast.”

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