The Wall Street Journal says a consortium made up of the South Korean conglomerate Samsung Group and U.S. private-equity firm Prodos Capital Management has emerged as the final bidder to buy Italian fashion house Gianfranco Ferré. Ferré is currently in bankruptcy protection.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the journal said Ferré's bankruptcy administrators selected a joint bid of less than 20-point-two million U.S. dollars by Prodos and Samsung as the most solid potential deal.

The report said that five bidders made offers for Ferré since the auction process launched in June but that Samsung and Prodos prevailed because of their deep pockets.

Ferré was part of the Italian fashion group IT Holding SpA until it declared bankruptcy last year.

The deal must be approved by the Italian government.