A Tel Aviv court Tuesday approved the sale of the ailing Maariv newspaper to the religious publisher of the right-leaning Makor Rishon newspaper.

Maariv employees have contested the sale and even published Tuesday’s paper with a blank front page to illustrate what the future could hold in store, but Tel Aviv District Court Judge Varda Alshech approved the sale “after it emerged that the employees reached agreements with the buyer regarding the outline of the deal,” AFP reported.