The station would be known as WBC and provide a rival to BBC Radio WM, which also broadcasts in the region.
Chrysalis acquired LBC from GWR last September in a deal that also included News Direct, worth £23.5m. It has since relaunched the station, with LBC 97.3FM featuring 100% speech, news and entertainment and a rolling news service on LBC News 1152AM.
Chrysalis will now use this format as the basis of its bid for the new FM licence. The tender process is expected to be open for the next 13 weeks, with an announcement on the winner due around October. Chrysalis already owns one FM licence in the region, 100.7 HeartFM.
Paul Fairburn, managing director of Chrysalis Radio Midlands, said: "This licence provides an exciting opportunity for the West Midlands to have a genuinely distinctive speech station and provide a compelling alternative to the BBC."
No decision has been made as to how LBC and WBC could share programming or advertising resources.
Since LBC relaunched this month, it has signed a 12-month deal with Esure, which will see the internet insurer sponsor traffic and travel bulletins.
LBC was the first station to hold a commercial licence in the UK, which it won in 1973. The station currently has around 480,000 listeners, which it hopes will rise to 1m by 2005.
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