Power_Africa_deal_team_RFP_(LA)_v3.docx

Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) Combined Synopsis/Solicitation for Power Africa Legal Support

1. General Information/Description

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial legal services prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested, and a written solicitation document will not be issued.

This solicitation is a Request for Proposals (RFP). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC 2005-87).

Award shall be made to the law firm(s) whose proposal(s), conforming to the combined synopsis/solicitation, provides the best value to the Government. The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541110 with a small business size standard of $11M in annual revenues.

The OPIC Contracting Officer (CO) intends to award a Firm Fixed-Price (FFP) task order for one or more contractors to provide legal services to support the Power Africa program as described in the Statement of Work (Attachment A). Capable parties shall submit proposals in response to this combined synopsis/solicitation following the instructions specified in the Proposal Content and Format (Attachment B). The CO reserves the right to make an award without discussions. The CO also reserves the right to make multiple FFP contract awards in order to ensure OPIC obtains both FTEs of support solicited. If a vendor chooses to propose to provide only one of the FTEs solicited, then the vendor shall identify which FTE noted in Section 8 below, as well as in Section 2 of the SOW. If an award is made for only one of the FTEs, then the SOW will be amended to exclude the support not proposed. However, the CO would prefer to make a single FFP contract award for both FTEs of support.

2 Anticipated Level of Effort Required:

OPIC plans to hire two full-time attorneys to perform this work.

3 Period of Performance*:

24 months from contract award with two sequential one-year options *In accordance with FAR 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services, should the Government opt for a 6-Month Extension of performance beyond any performance year, such extension will be at then-current rates.

5 Acquisition Schedule:

The acquisition schedule for this procurement is as follows:

6 Proposal Submission Instructions:

Proposals in response to this combined synopsis/solicitation shall be submitted by 11:00PM EDT on 23 August 2016. The Government reserves the right to decide whether to accept a proposal received after the deadline, depending on the circumstances surrounding the late submission and the time difference between the deadline and the time the proposal was actually received. The proposal shall be in compliance with all specifications and requirements detailed in this combined synopsis/solicitation and its attachments. Failure to do so may result in the Government deeming the submitted proposal as non-responsive and eliminating the respondent from consideration. The CO, Mr. George Sullivan, is the sole point of contact for this acquisition. Address any questions or concerns to him by 18 August 2016, 5:00PM EDT. No answers will be provided to questions submitted after that time.

7 Provisions and Clauses:

The full text of FAR provisions or clauses may be accessed electronically at http://acquisition.gov/comp/far/index.html.

The following FAR provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference:

1. FAR 52.204-7 System for Award Management (Jul 2013)

2. FAR 52.204-13 System for Award Management Maintenance (Jul 2013)

3. FAR 52.212-1, “Instructions to Offerors–Commercial Items” (Oct 2015)

4. FAR 52.212-2 -- Evaluation -- Commercial Items (Oct 2014)

(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers within the context of the best value continuum: technical capabilities, past performance and price.

Evaluation criteria for technical acceptability:

- Proposal is responsive to RFP.

- Information provided demonstrates the contractor possesses the corporate and organizational expertise and knowledge required to perform the work detailed in Attachment A – Statement of Work.

Evaluation of technical capabilities (Factor I): The Government will assess any strengths, deficiencies, weaknesses and significant weaknesses detailed in the technical volume of the vendor’s relevant experience as detailed in Section 2.1 of Attachment B – Quote Content and Format and the resume of consultant provided in the proposal. This evaluation will also include a risk assessment related to the potential for the vendor’s technical capabilities to disrupt schedule, increase cost or degrade performance.

Key Definitions:

Strength - an aspect of an offeror's proposal that has merit or exceeds specified performance or capability requirements in a way that will be advantageous to the Government during contract performance.

Weakness - a flaw in the proposal that increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance Significant Weakness - a flaw that appreciably increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance Deficiency - a material failure of a proposal to meet a Government requirement or a combination of significant weaknesses in a proposal that increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance to an unacceptable level OVERALL CAPABILITY AND RISK RATINGS: The following Capability and Risk ratings will be used for the overall ratings of Factor I.

Overall Capability Ratings

The overall Risk rating for Factor I will be one of the following adjectival ratings:

Overall Risk Ratings

Evaluation of past performance (Factor II): The Government will assess the recency and relevance of the past performance information provided in the vendor’s relevant fact sheets as detailed in Section 2.2 of Attachment B – Quote Content and Format. Based on this assessment, the Government will determine whether it has substantial, satisfactory, neutral, limited or no confidence that the vendor will successfully perform the required effort. The Government may consider information obtained through other sources (i.e., Past Performance Information Retrieval System). Past performance information will be utilized to determine the quality of the contractor’s past performance as it relates to the probability of success of the required effort. The vendor shall also provide references and information related to contract on which it has provided similar or identical services, as described in Attachment B.

Key Definitions:

Recency - a measure of the time that has elapsed since the past performance reference occurred. Recency is generally expressed as a time period during which past performance references are considered relevant.

Relevance - a measure of the extent of similarity between the service/support effort, complexity, dollar value, contract type, and subcontract/teaming or other comparable attributes of past performance examples and the solicitation requirements; and a measure of the likelihood that the past performance is an indicator of future performance

OVERALL CONFIDENCE RATINGS: The overall confidence rating for Factor II will be one of the following:

Overall Confidence Ratings

Evaluation of price (Factor III): Vendors' price proposals will be evaluated to determine whether it is reasonable and realistic. Pricing that is excessively high or low may be considered unrealistic and unreasonable, and may receive no further consideration.

WEIGHT OF EVLAUATION FACTORS: Factor I is weighted more heavily than Factor II. Factor II is weighted more heavily than Factor III.

(b) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

(c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

(End of Provision)

5. FAR 52.212-3, “Offerors Representations and Certifications–Commercial Items” (Nov 2015) Offerors must complete annual representations and certifications on-line at https://www.sam.gov/portal/SAM/#1 in accordance with FAR 52.212-3, “Offerors Representations and Certifications–Commercial Items.” If paragraph (j) of the provision is applicable, a written submission is required.

6. FAR 52.212-4, “Contract Terms and Conditions–Commercial Items” (May 2015)

7. FAR 52.212-5, “Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders” (Nov 2015)

The following subparagraphs of FAR 52.212-5 are applicable:

A Vendor should only submit a proposal if the résumés proposed will demonstrate compliance with the following key qualifications:

1. A minimum of four (4) years of experience as an attorney for cross-border structured and project finance transactions. Work experience at or for a law firm or developmental finance institution preferred;

2. A Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) degree from a law school recognized by a competent accrediting agency of the government of the foreign country or a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an ABA accredited law school;

3. Active membership of the bar (of any U.S. jurisdiction) in good standing;

4. Demonstrated knowledge, experience or capabilities in most of the following areas:

a. Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating finance, security and project documents for cross-border structured and project finance transactions, with emphasis given to financings of renewable energy and infrastructure projects in emerging markets;

b. Working with loan officers to structure cross-border structured and project finance transactions; and

c. Deep understanding of key legal issues related to cross-border structured and project finance transactions, and experience in working with different infrastructure sub-sectors 9 Completion of Conflicts Policy Agreement and Annexes All bidders are required to read, complete and sign the forms included in Attachment D – Conflicts Policy. Any proposal submitted without these forms will be deemed non-responsive and will not be evaluated.

10 Small Business Consideration Participation from small business and small, disadvantaged business firms are highly encouraged. Firms responding should indicate if they are a small business, a socially and economically disadvantaged business, 8(a) firms, HUBZone, historically black colleges, and minority institutions. Proposals received in response to this combined Synopsis/Solicitation will be used as the basis for OPIC’s market research to determine whether there is a small business capable of providing the support required in this solicitation. If a capable, responsible small business is found then the Contracting Officer will award to that business if it were found to be equal to or better than a large business Bidder based on the evaluation criteria listed above.

11 Attachments:

A – Statement of Work B – Quote Content and Format C – Relevant Fact Sheet D – Conflicts Policy

12 Point of Contact George Sullivan, Procuring Contracting Officer e-mail: George.Sullivan@opic.gov

Combined Synopsis/Solicitation OPIC-16-R-0023 7 image1.jpeg