News Corp looks set to expand its Australian media empire further, with a bid to take a 14.99 per cent stake in competing publisher APN News and Media.

APN News and Media halted trading on Thursday following News Corp’s announcement of its intention.

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The ball is now in the regulator’s court. If approved, the stake will give Rupert Murdoch’s business major voting power in the Australian and New Zealand company.

APN publishes a large number of regional newspapers in Queensland and New South Wales, and owns several radio stations across the country.

It is a bigger player in New Zealand, where it publishes the New Zealand Herald, one of the two major national papers and the leading paper in Auckland, the country’s biggest city.

Announcing the planned investment in New York, News Corp said: “APN has a high quality portfolio of Australian and New Zealand radio and outdoor media assets and small regional print interests. It is led by a quality management team that has successfully driven improvements in the performance of the business.”