An affiliate of Liberty Media Corp. submitted a request with the U.S. Department of Justice to acquire a larger stake in iHeartMedia Inc., The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.

Liberty Media, which currently owns a 4.8% stake in iHeartMedia through Sirius XM Holdings Inc., could have outright ownership of the Texas-based media company if a deal is approved.

The U.S. government is considering Liberty Media's request. Antitrust officials of the Justice Department recently asked interested parties about possible impacts of a potential deal between a live entertainment company and a radio company, without dropping specific company names.

However, the John Malone-led company has yet to decide on the kind of transaction it would go for given an approval.

In February 2018, Liberty Media reportedly considered to buying a 40% stake in iHeartMedia for $1.16 billion in cash, but withdrew the proposal in June 2018 after concluding that iHeartMedia's results were below expectations.

IHeartMedia underwent a restructuring process that led to the separation of the company with Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. The process concluded in May, which saw iHeartMedia reducing its debt to $5.75 billion from $16.1 billion.