BMMI traces its corporate roots back to 1883 when Gray Paul, a British merchant company operating in the Persian Gulf, established a local branch in Bahrain. Following decades of corporate evolution, mergers, and transitions under the Inchcape Group, the enterprise formed a joint venture with local Bahraini shareholders in 1980 to create BMMI. It eventually became a fully independent, publicly traded shareholding company listed on the Bahrain Bourse.