Gottlieb Daimler had run into financial problems…

Gottlieb Daimler had run into financial problems because sales were not high enough and the licenses didn't yield significant profit.

An agreement had been reached with the financiers Max Von Duttenhofer and William Lorenz, both of whom are also munitions manufacturers, along with the influential banker Kilian von Steiner, who owns an investment bank, to convert the private business to a public corporation in 1890. (This agreement is regarded by some historians as a "devil's pact", as the inventors will never get along with the new status.)