The publisher of the Orange County Register says it will sell its bankrupt newspaper group to Digital First Media after the U.S. government moved to block the sale of the southern California media company to the owner of the Los Angeles Times.

Lawyers for Freedom Communications Inc., the publisher of the Orange County Register and the Riverside Press-Enterprise, said they would ask a bankruptcy judge Monday to sign off on the sale of its assets to Digital First Media. The request comes after the U.S. Department of Justice...