Qatar’s royal family is close to buying Valentino Fashion Group SpA from Permira Holding Ltd. for 550 million British pounds ($852 million) with an announcement expected this week, Sky News reported on its website, without saying how it obtained the information.

Qatar’s royal family would make the purchase and not the country’s sovereign wealth fund, Sky reported.

A representative at the office of the Qatari Emir Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani declined to comment when Bloomberg contacted him by phone today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Tuttle in Doha at rtuttle@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net