The Borneo Company Ltd. (BCL) was incorporated in London in 1856 to carry out the trading activities of Sir James Brooke, the White Rajah of Sarawak, in Borneo and the surrounding region. The firm was mainly involved in the import and export trade in its early years and only decided to venture deeper into the car sales business when motoring became popular in Singapore and Malaya after World War I. Borneo Motors Limited, a subsidiary firm, was formed in 1925 to deal exclusively with the import and export of cars in Singapore and the region. Its offices and showroom were located along Orchard Road until the early 1970s, when the site was sold to the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) for the redevelopment of the Plaza Singapura shopping complex.
