Los Angeles ? A judge on Friday firmly approved a deal between Michael Jackson’s estate and a concert promoter to exhibit his memorabilia, praising the arrangement that the singer’s mother had fought in court over her concerns that it could harm his legacy and wasn’t competitively bid.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff approved the deal that’s expected to earn Jackson’s estate up to $6 million, saying after four hours of mostly closed-door testimony that there was “no question in my mind this agreement is in the best interest of the estate.”

Beckloff noted the lack of a reasonable alternative presented by Katherine Jackson’s attorneys, alluding to a mention made in court of a company starting up in the Middle East that might be able to handle the exhibitions.

“The most foolhardy thing the administrators could do is connect with some startup company from the Middle East,” he said.

The show will open in London’s 02 Arena, where Jackson was set to kick off his “This is It” tour this summer.

“I think everybody is going to be thrilled with the results,” said John Norman, president and CEO of the exhibit’s promoter, AEG Live-owned Arts and Exhibitions International. “It will be great to celebrate this man’s legacy.”

AEG Live, the company that was preparing Jackson’s 50-concert comeback tour when he died June 25, plans to open the exhibit around the Oct. 28 release of a film using footage of the singer’s final rehearsals. Attorneys for Katherine Jackson had tried to block the deal, arguing it should have been competitively bid, and that the estate should have a larger cut of the proceeds than the 50-50 split negotiated with AEG.

John Schreiber, an attorney for Katherine Jackson, suggested there was no need to hurry or conduct “a fire sale” of the memorabilia. But the judge chided his “hyperbole about rushing to judgment and fire sale and giving away the store” as inappropriate, and said he was convinced the negotiations were above board.