Peter Tonagh-led consortium strikes as bidders circle AAP newswire

A consortium led by former News Corp Australia and Foxtel boss Peter Tonagh is understood to have submitted its bid for AAP newswire.

AAP announced in March that the company would shut, leaving several hundred journalists and editors without jobs. Picture: AAP

A consortium led by former News Corp Australia and Foxtel boss Peter Tonagh is understood to have submitted its bid for AAP newswire, which is being considered by the 85-year-old media group's board, as others continue to circle.

A representative from Australia's biggest media union MEAA has told AAP staff that the "Tonagh-fronted consortium has formally submitted its bid, which is being considered by the board".

"As it stands the bid is for the Newswire only, although Medianet could still potentially be involved," the MEAA representative said in an email, seen by The Australian, on Monday.

Medianet is AAP’s press release distribution business, and could also be of interest to former Isentia boss John Croll, who is understood to be in the process of setting up a new monitoring organisation.

The development comes a week after Tonagh revealed that he is heading up the consortium, which includes Samuel Terry Asset Management boss Fred Woollard and Australian Impact Investments boss Kylie Charlton, and is hoping to pressure its management to strike a deal before AAP closes on June 26.

Mr Tonagh hasn't returned calls seeking comment on the bid, while an AAP board spokesman said "confidential talks are continuing".

The MEAA representative said there are "a couple of other contenders also still potentially in play".

"One reason they might be considered by the board (despite the tight time frame) is because they could also involve other divisions of AAP, which don't interest the Tonagh group."

The Australian reported last week that finder.com.au founder Fred Schebesta is also interested in AAP newswire. Mr Schebesta was in early talks with AAP management and their consultancy TMT Partners last week, but stressed any interest in the company was preliminary.

While details remain scarce, AAP’s editor-in-chief Tony Gillies' "strong feeling is that something concrete has to happen this week regarding what feels like the never-ending sale saga", the MEAA representative said.

"So surely we will all know a lot more by Friday."

Gillies, who has been at the helm for past 16 years, is in regular contact with many of AAP's major clients, "who are understandably as anxious as we are to know what's happening" with only a few weeks left before the newswire is shuttered, the MEAA representative said.

AAP announced in March that the company would shut, leaving several hundred journalists and editors without jobs.

The decision was a result of News Corp Australia, publisher of The Australian, and Nine Entertainment deciding to pull out of the venture, which was costing the companies tens of millions of dollars a year.

News Corp and Nine have made it clear they will not be customers or shareholders of a new AAP, with News Corp looking to launch its own internal newswire service for mastheads and sell content to third parties.

The AAP board, which is chaired by News Corp senior executive Campbell Reid, had a regular meeting scheduled for Monday afternoon, according to the MEAA representative.