Currently, Bahema operates in the educational sector. However, it has also operated in other sectors. For example, it was once specialized in acquiring percentage rights from other companies.

In short, despite having gone through other areas, nowadays the company operates in basic education, higher education, and distance education (EAD).

An important detail about Bahema's operations is that it focuses on the administrative, financial, and communication aspects of schools. Therefore, the company's policy is not to interfere with the pedagogical plans of the schools.

Bahema was founded in 1953 in Salvador, Bahia. The founder of the company, which at the time was focused on the commercialization of agricultural implements, was Afranio Affonso Ferreira.

Some time after being founded, the company was already a representative of Caterpillar for the entire northeastern region of Brazil.

In the 1980s, the demand for Bahema's machines was high, and the company began to have excess cash. As a result, it started investing in stakes in publicly traded companies.

Over time, the investment activity gained strength and became Bahema's main business. With many of the investments made, the company achieved high returns, equivalent to 50% per year in dollars.

An example of this was the investment in Metal Leve and Manah. Bahema also invested in Unibanco, and in 2008, after the merger of Unibanco with Itaú, Bahema chose to reduce its capital and distribute most of its assets.

The company that started with the sale of agricultural implements and later began acquiring stakes in companies became interested in the educational sector in 2015.

In summary, in 2015 Bahema had a fund of R$ 30 million, and the business plan that transformed Bahema into an educational company was approved.

Thus, in 2016, the company received approval from the Board of Directors, and a new management team took over the company, which began to analyze investment opportunities in Basic Education.

By 2017, Bahema made its first investments in the sector through: Escola Balão Vermelho/Colégio Mangabeiras, in Belo Horizonte (MG), Escola Parque, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), and Escola da Vila, in São Paulo (SP).

In addition, the company began to invest and became a partner of Escola Mais. In 2018, the company announced its collaboration with Escola Viva (São Paulo capital), which was later acquired by Bahema in 2020.

Still in 2018, the Critique group was created. In summary, the group's objective is to promote the exchange of best practices and foster knowledge production among schools.

In 2019, Bahema became a partner of Centro Educacional Viva (Rio de Janeiro capital) and announced the purchase of Fórum Cultural (Niterói/RJ).

In the same year, the Brazilian International School (Zona Sul de São Paulo) became part of Bahema's network of schools. This was the first bilingual institution to join the group.

The following year, Bahema announced the acquisition of Escola Autonomia in Florianópolis. Finally, in 2021, EIU – Escola Internacional de Blumenau and Florianópolis also joined the Bahema Educação group.

Currently, Bahema Educação is a partner of approximately ten schools in the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Pernambuco, and Minas Gerais.