SYDNEY—The owner of Australia’s oldest newspaper, the 187-year-old Sydney Morning Herald, plans to sell itself to a television network less than a year after the country relaxed its media-ownership laws, a deal that underscores the difficulties confronting global newspaper companies in the digital era.
Fairfax Media Ltd. said Thursday it had agreed to be taken over by Nine Entertainment Co. in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at US$1.61 billion. Fairfax is a major competitor in Australia to News Corp, which publishes titles...