GOVCON SDVOSB Contract Assignment in Change of Ownership
July 20, 2024
by a searcher from Dartmouth College - Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in New York, NY, USA
Hi everyone, my partner and I are service-disable veterans with a GOVCON SDVOSB under LOI. We are in early stages of diligence on the contracts and wondering the level of risk associated with the assignment of contracts to us (the buyer) from the seller in a change of ownership. We are conducting a stock purchase, so it is our understanding that a novation agreement is not necessary, but we may be required to submit a written request to the responsible contracting officer for each contract to recognize us as the successor in interests to its contracts.
Does anyone have experience with this? What level or risk is there that the contracting officer does not accept the transfer?
Also, we would love to chat with anyone here that has purchased an SDVOSB. We are curious to learn about any nuances with the SDVOSB change of ownership and recertification that we should be aware of.
from University of Houston in Helotes, TX, USA
Depending on who the customer is, (the government or some prime or down tier supplier) the contract, MSA, or whatever your DO is based on will have some section that spells out notification requirements.
In my mind your only risk for this is:
1. Are either of you a felon of some sort that would otherwise make the government not do business with you.
2. Can you meet the requirements for the SBA to certify you SDVOSB.
The above is obviously just my 2 cents from not knowing your rating, the business you have, or really anything else about you.
from University of California, Berkeley in Seattle, WA, USA
To answer your risk question directly, depending on which customers/contracts have change of ownership consent clauses in place, I would make closing the deal contingent about receiving signed consent forms from the largest redacted if you want to message me directly.