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B-401692 1 (2009-11-05)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadbat0001 and id is 1 raw text is: JlL A , GA O Comptroller General Accuntabiity * Integrity * Reliability of the United States United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 D .. Decision Matter of: PR Newswire Association, LLC File: B-401692 Date: November 5, 2009 Brian Taylor for the protester. Cheryl S. Mpande, Esq., Department of Health and Human Services, for the agency. Susan K. McAuliffe, Esq., and Christine S. Melody, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest that contracting agency improperly exercised a contract option is denied where protester has not shown that agency failed to follow applicable regulations or that determination to exercise option was unreasonable. DECISION PR Newswire Association, LLC, of Washington, D.C., protests the exercise of the first option under contract No. HHSP233200800187A, awarded to Business Wire, Inc., of Arlington, Virginia, under request for proposals No. HHS-ASPA-NEWSDIVISION, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for distribution of news releases and media advisories. The protester contends that the agency's determination to exercise the option was improper. We deny the protest. As a matter of background, PR Newswire, which had previously provided the required services to the agency, was awarded a sole-source contract for the current requirement on December 20, 2007; that award was protested by Business Wire. In response to the protest, the agency canceled the award and issued a new solicitation for a competitive procurement for the services. That solicitation was published on the FedBizOpps website on May 28, 2008, with proposals due by June 24. PR Newswire did not submit a proposal. The agency evaluated the proposals received and made an award, for a base year and four option-year periods, to Business Wire on August 1, having determined that the firm's proposal (which offered the lowest price and received high technical ratings) offered the best value to the agency. PR Newswire protested that award, contending that the agency failed to give the

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