The owner of the Chicago Sun-Times is considering buying some of Tribune Co.’s newspapers, which include the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times.

Sources told Crains Chicago Business that Sun-Times owner Wrapports LLC in Chicago has hired New York investment bank Allen & Co. Inc. to explore purchasing assets owned by Tribune, also based in Chicago. The Sun-Times later posted a story on its own web site confirming the story and citing a Wrapports spokeswoman.

Wrapports likely would be more interested in Sun-Times arch-rival Chicago Tribune than Tribune’s out-of-state properties.

Tribune emerged from bankruptcy on Dec. 31, with former Discovery Communications executive Peter Liguori as its new Los Angeles-based chief executive. The new chairman is Bruce Karsh, president of downtown L.A.’s Oaktree Capital Management LP, now Tribune’s largest shareholder.

Wrapports joins a growing number of individuals and media companies expressing an interest in Tribune properties. The list includes the owners of the Orange County Register and San Diego Union-Tribune, News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch and Los Angeles billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad.