If controlling shareholders allow it, a restyled Australian Associated Press is expected to offer a reduced service under the consortium headed by former News Corp executive Peter Tonagh.

Tonagh and partners including Fred Woollard and Kylie Charlton plan to focus on breaking news, state and federal politics, court and sport reporting with 72 staff instead of the current 147. Reports say 25 AAP freelancers will be retained, with the story count reduced from 340 to about 200 a day.

A sale still depends on approval by shareholders, dominated by News Corp Australia - which is setting up its own internal 'wire' service - and Nine Entertainment. The offer by the Tonagh consortium does not include content and layout service Pagemasters and custom editorial activities.

Tonagh was chief financial and then chief operating officer of Foxtel from 2004 before moving to News Corp Australia in 2013, first as chief operating officer and then chief executive. He returned to head Foxtel for two years in 2016 and is currently chairman of Bus Stop Films and Quantium. He is a member of the AFTRS council.

ACCC chair Rod Sims pointed out at the weekend that the present owners - who have announced that AAP will shut at the end of next month - cannot be forced to sell to a third party if they don't want to. Eliminating a service currently enjoyed by competitors, even if they were minor shareholders, might be judged an advantage.