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ChemChina and Pirelli's shareholders have been in negotiations to set up a new company to buy a holding called Camfin, which owns 26 percent of Pirelli and is currently 50 percent owned by Russia's Rosneft.
An announcement could come later on Sunday or on Monday, two of the sources said.
Under the deal, ChemChina would hold a majority stake in the new company, and become the biggest single shareholder in Pirelli - the world's fifth-largest tire maker. The Chinese group could have an up to 65 percent stake in the new vehicle, according to two of the sources.
Without identifying the possible buyer, Camfin said on Friday it was in talks with an international industrial group to sell its Pirelli stake at 15 euros per share, valuing the tire group at 7.1 billion euros excluding net debt of almost 1 billion euros at the end of 2014.
It said the stake would be transferred to a vehicle controlled by the new partner, after which a takeover offer for the rest the world's fifth-largest tire maker would ensue.
ChemChina was not immediately available for comment. A spokesman for Pirelli said he had no comment.
As details of the deal were leaked on Friday, shares in Milan-listed Pirelli, which started business 143 years ago producing rubber items, rose to a 25-year high and topped the 15 euro buyout price, prompting analysts to say shareholders may want to think twice before tendering their shares at that level.
Sources close to the matter said on Friday the deal with the Chinese group will mean Rosneft, which is facing international sanctions due to the Ukraine crisis and needs to cut debt, reduces its stake in Pirelli.
The agreement would give ChemChina access to technology used in making lucrative premium tires and could help China, already a global player in sectors such as telecoms and internet, develop its automotive industry.
Sources with knowledge of the matter said the deal on Pirelli would involve the company's less profitable truck tire business being spun off and possibly being folded in ChemChina's Aeolus unit.
In turn Pirelli, whose tires equip cars in Formula One motor racing, would have more bandwidth to compete against larger rivals such as Michelin and Continental which are looking for growth in Asia.
Under the new Chinese owners, Pirelli Chairman and CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera, who started working in the tire maker in 1986 after marrying a member of the Italian family that founded the firm, is set to remain in the driving seat for another five years, sources have said.
(Reuters)(Reporting by Paola Arosio, writing by Danilo Masoni and Silvia Aloisi; editing by Susan Thomas)
