CBCA 7965

MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT DENIED: March 11, 2025 CBCA 7965 CGS-ACE SECURITY LLC, Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Respondent. Robert Nichols, Michael Bhargava, and Logan Kemp of Nichols Liu LLP, Washington, DC, counsel for Appellant. Jeffrey A. Regner, Office of the Legal Adviser, Buildings and Acquisitions, Department of State, Rosslyn, VA, counsel for Respondent. Before Board Judges KULLBERG, ZISCHKAU, and KANG. KANG, Board Judge. Appellant, CGS-ACE Security LLC, appeals a final decision by a contracting officer of respondent, Department of State (DOS), regarding a contract to provide security services. Respondent has filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that appellant is not the contractor for the services and, therefore, cannot pursue this appeal. We deny respondent’s motion. CBCA 7965 2 Background Respondent’s motion for summary judgment primarily concerns whether: (1) CGS-ACE Security LLC is the same entity as CGS-ACE JV, and (2) if not the same, which of these two entities entered into the contract with DOS. Because the motion concerns similarly named entities, the names will be used in full throughout this decision. I. Solicitation, Proposal, and Award On August 11, 2020, respondent issued solicitation no. 19AQMM20R0220 for local guard services at the United States Embassy in Luxembourg. Appeal File, Exhibit 2 at 1, 6.1 The solicitation required the contractor to perform the guard services and did not allow these requirements to be subcontracted. Id. at 8, 11. The solicitation, however, allowed offerors to propose as a joint venture, wherein either member of the joint venture could perform the guard services. See id. at 123; Respondent’s Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 23. Offerors proposing to perform the contract as a joint venture were required to identify its members. Exhibit 2 at 123. On September 15, 2020, the agency received a proposal from the following entity, named on the cover page of the technical and price volumes of the proposal: “The CGS-ACE Security Joint Venture C/O Continuity Global Solutions, LLC.” Exhibit 31 at 1, 419. Exhibit P to the price volume of the proposal was titled “Offeror Information and/or Signature Page.” Id. at 5. This exhibit stated that the “Legal Business Name of Entity Submitting Offer” was “CGS-ACE JV” with an address in Falls Church, Virginia. Id. The exhibit further stated that the offeror was a joint venture and provided DUNS2 number 117659162. Id. The members of the joint venture were identified as “Continuity Global Solutions” of Falls Church, Virginia, and “ACE Sécurité S.A.”3 of Schouweiler, Luxembourg. Id. at 5-6. 1 All exhibits are found in the appeal file. 2 DUNS is the Data Universal Numbering System, managed by Dunn & Bradstreet. Prior to April 2022, DUNS was a unique identifier required for registration in the System for Award Management (SAM). DUNS was replaced by the Unique Entity Identifier. See 48 CFR 2.101(b)(2), 4.605(b) (2022). 3 This entity is named variously in the record as “ACE Sécurité S.A.,” “A.C.E. Securitie SA,” and other similar permutations. The parties do not dispute that these names all refer to the same Luxembourg business entity. CBCA 7965 3 The proposal’s price volume also attached a July 28, 2020, joint venture agreement between “Continuity Global Solutions LLC,” and “A.C.E. Securitie SA.” Exhibit 31 at 390-406. The joint venture agreement, which was for the purpose of submitting a proposal for the solicitation, did not specify a name for the joint venture. See id. The joint venture agreement stated that the agreement “shall be deemed to be made in and in all respects shall be interpreted, construed, and governed by and in accordance with the laws of the District of Columbia.” Id. at 405. CGS-ACE Security LLC was incorporated in Delaware on December 23, 2020. Exhibit 30. Since its incorporation, CGS-ACE Security LLC has been a “wholly owned subsidiary of Continuity Global Solutions, LLC.” Appellant’s Statement of Genuine Issues ¶ 4; Respondent’s Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 4. On December 21, 2020, the contracting officer sent a letter to “CGS-ACE” titled “Notice of Anticipated Contract Award.” Exhibit 33.