"We are open to the possibility of an alliance with Olympus," the source with knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity, without elaborating.

Olympus Corp is considering an equity tie-up with five candidate companies including Japanese electronics makers Sony Corp and Panasonic Corp, as well as South Korea's Samsung Electronics, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper said on Thursday.

A Samsung spokeswoman said the company had not received a "detailed offer" from Olympus regarding a tie-up.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)