US Sues to Block Spy-Tech Deal – By Adam Mazmanian (Defense One) / July 3, 2022
The Justice Department opposes Booz Allen’s bid to acquire a rival ahead of a five-year signals intelligence procurement.
The Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit on Wednesday to block Booz Allen Hamilton’s planned acquisition of signals intelligence vendor EverWatch because of competition concerns. The two firms were rivals in a planned National Security Agency services procurement called Optimal Decision.
“The two companies are the only competitors for this project, and if the merger is not quickly blocked, NSA and American taxpayers likely will be harmed in the form of higher prices, lower quality, and less innovation for this crucial service,” the Justice Department stated in its filing.
The government’s complaint is redacted because of the classified nature of the NSA project, but according to the filing, the NSA surveyed industry while planning the five-year contract for “operational modeling and simulation services” to the spy agency and found that Booz Allen and EverWatch were the only expected bidders.
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