Southern Cross Austereo has sold two Queensland radio stations to parties associated with music industry veteran Glenn Wheatley for $17.75 million.

SCA said on Thursday Eon Broadcasting, which was 90 per cent owned by investment company Oceania Capital Partners (OCP) and 10 per cent held by the Wheatley Organisation, had bought Sea FM and Mix FM on the Sunshine Coast.

The sale was forced on SCA, by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, after it took over the Austereo radio group in 2011.

As a result of the takeover, SCA held too many commercial FM radio licences in the Brisbane and Nambour areas.

Mr Wheatley, who was a founding director of Australia’s first FM radio station – Melbourne’s Eon FM – would serve as a consultant to the two stations.

He said he was proud to be part of what he described as two of the best regional FM stations in Australia.

The former musician and manager to the likes of John Farnham and Delta Goodrem spent about 10 months in jail in 2007 after pleading guilty to tax evasion.

OCP managing director Robert Moran said the two radio stations represented an “attractive opportunity to pursue growth prospects through market expansion”.

The sale came after it emerged recently that SCA and Nine were in discussions to combine their television assets in a $4 billion merger.

While the two parties would be prevented from merging under current laws – which restricts a television network from reaching more than 75 per cent of the population – Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has proposed abolishing the rule.

SCA was down four cents at $1.65 on Thursday.