Sinclair Broadcast Group is near a deal to acquire Tribune Media, one of the largest television station owners in the U.S., for approximately $4 billion, Reuters reported on Sunday.

If a deal goes through, it would be the first major broadcast acquisition in the weeks since the FCC reversed a 2016 media ownership ruling, a decision that greatly expanded the number of TV stations a single entity can own. The news of Sinclair and Tribune closing in on an agreement comes after reports emerged last week that equity firm Blackstone and 21st Century Fox were teaming up on a bid for Tribune Media.

The acquisition of Tribune would make Baltimore-based Sinclair the largest TV station owner in the country, by reach and by total number of TV stations. It would expand the company's presence for the first time into the top five TV markets of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Dallas. Sinclair at present owns or operates 173 TV stations, with Washington, D.C. (market No. 7 behind San Francisco) as its largest market.

The deal, if approved by regulators, will extend Sinclair's clout throughout the TV universe, with MVPDs and the major networks, notably with Fox. Tribune owns 14 Fox affiliates, which will add to Sinclair's roster of at least 35 Fox affiliates. The desire to thwart Sinclair from gaining even more affiliates was part of the motivation for Fox and Blackstone to team up on the Tribune bid. If nothing else, the Fox-Blackstone bid probably drove the price up for Sinclair.

According to Reuters, the deal values Tribune at $44 per share. Tribune stock closed Friday at $40.29, giving the company a market cap of $3.5 billion.

Tribune declined to comment on the report on Sunday. Sinclair representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.

Tribune Media's holdings include 42 stations, which reach 43% of U.S. households, as well as cable channel WGA America and WGN Radio.

Sinclair apparently beat out Fox for the acquisition, according to a report from Bloomberg, as well as an expected bid from station group giant Nexstar. Fox Networks Group chairman Peter Rice confirmed that the company was looking to buy Tribune in partnership with Blackstone last week at the Milken Institute Global Conference.

According to Bloomberg, while the deal could be announced as early as Monday, it is not finalized and could still fall apart.