CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A major Australian media company has announced it will sell 170 regional and rural newspapers for 115 million Australian dollars ($81 million).

Nine Entertainment said on Tuesday it had signed an agreement to sell the newspapers to shareholder Antony Catalano and Thorney Investment Group. The sale is to be completed by June 30.

Catalano last year took court action in a failed attempt to block the merger of television network Nine with Fairfax Media, Australia's largest newspaper publisher after News Corp.

Nine only wants to keep Fairfax's metropolitan mastheads: The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review.