I agree with you on reputational baggage, and it is easy to see it that way when the company doesn't give public updates. That allows the opposition to smear you and make the company/management look unethical.
And that is precisely what happened in the acquisition of DKME Co., Ltd. It wasn't until Quantum Wealth Management (QWM) publicly stated its position on the DKME.us website that things changed, which halted the delisting of DKME Co., Ltd..
If Coretec is currently interested in acquiring DKME Co., Ltd., it will need to acquire the company completely to gain total control. However, the only way I see that happening financially is if Coretec can commercialize/license Endurion battery technology and become current with SEC filings. The management would already know by now if that is happening.
A company making 70 million plus in revenue, and some company acquires it for 100 million or less, sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
One week from this coming Tuesday, it'll be 3 months since their last 8-K, where they said they were going to prepare and file the delinquent files, and they have publicly not come out once to update us on their progress.