Hudson’s Bay Co. ‘s plan to auction its Royal Charter, a historical document that gave it exclusive rights over a portion of Canada in 1670, was approved in court on Thursday.

The defunct retailer has been attempting to complete the sale of the charter since June, but an Ontario court finally paved the way for an auction to be held in the first week of December.

Justice Peter Osborne of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice said there were “a few twists and turns along the way.” He said the case was unique due to the historical relevance of the charter and the “interest of all Canadians” beyond the ongoing proceedings, but he was satisfied with HBC’s auction proposal.

“While the maximization of value for shareholders and stakeholders is rather important, so, too, is the preservation of the charter, maintaining it in Canada and ensuring the continued accessibility of the charter to Canadians,” he said. “I’m satisfied that this proposed process recognizes and achieves those objectives and goals and will ensure that a document … remains here and a part of our history.”

The auction process has protections to guarantee that the charter remains in Canada and is made accessible to the public, HBC lawyer Ashley Taylor told the court.

“Any prospective purchaser must irrevocably commit to permanently donate the charter immediately upon closing of the purchase to one or more Canadian public institutions,” he said.

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 earlier this year. The company is also trying to sell other artifacts it owns, and it has already sold its intellectual property rights and leases.

Two Canadian companies — Wittington Investments Ltd., a private entity owned by the Weston family, and DKRT Family Corp., owned by David Thomson, Canada’s richest person — have teamed up to bid at least $18 million for the charter. Their offer will be considered the opening bid at the auction next month.

Any other parties interested in taking part in the auction will have to submit their proposals by Nov. 28.

Previously, both Wittington and DKRT had put in separate bids to buy the charter. HBC in June said it had reached a $12.5-million deal to sell the charter to Wittington, but then said in August that it had another offer of at least $15 million from DKRT.

As a result, HBC decided to host a separate auction for the charter and sought approval for it from an Ontario court on Sept. 29. However, HBC’s lawyers told the court they wanted an adjournment since the company had received another bid for the charter, which turned out to be the joint proposal from Wittington and DKRT.

The joint bidders would donate the charter to a consortium made up of four Canadian public institutions, including the Archives of Manitoba, Manitoba Museum, Canadian Museum of History and Royal Ontario Museum.

It also committed to donate $5 million to “fund stewardship, consultation, education and public access related to the charter,” the court document said. This is higher than the $2-million and $1-million donations that DKRT and Wittington had respectively committed to in their separate bids.

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