Reuters reports that Nokia is engaging in talks with private equity group EQT to sell its luxury Vertu subsidiary for about 200 million euros ($249 million), and could close the deal as soon as this week. A source tells Reuters that the deal is imminent, though there's still a chance that the deal may not be completed "due to the difficulty of carving the unit out of Nokia." Reuters reports that a separate private equity group, Permira, had been in talks with Nokia to buy the high-end subsidiary, which sells very expensive luxury phones, but didn't make an offer.

The news follows earlier reports that Nokia had been making progress on its bid to sell Vertu, and we first heard about the possibility when the company reportedly retained a Goldman Sachs advisory last December to help offload the premium brand. That Financial Times report cited Permira, which Reuters now reports didn't end up actually making a bid.