Vectrus puts up fight after losing biggest contract

Vectrus isn’t taking the loss of its largest contract lightly. It has filed a bid protest of the Army’s decision to award the $827.2 million Kuwait Base Operations and Security Support Services contract to a KBR joint venture.

Known as K-BOSS 2.0, the contract supports work at a variety of locations around the region. It is based out of Camp Arifijan, a U.S. military installation established in Kuwait as part of Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

According to Vectrus’ annual report, the company has held the contract since 2011, and it is the biggest in its portfolio. The company said that through the first six months of 2016, the contract had brought in $218 million in revenue. Earlier this year, the Army extended Vectrus’ contract through the end of 2016 with a value of $300 million.

The contract represents a big chunk of change for a company that had about $1.2 billion in 2015 revenue.

Vectrus filed its protest with the Government Accountability Office this week, and a GAO decision is expected on Jan. 19.

KBR formed a joint venture with Triple Canopy to pursue the contract, which runs for five years and has another six month option for an extension. KBR owns 75 percent of the joint venture.

The contract covers work at a variety of military facilities: Camp Arifijan, Udairi Army Airfield, Camp Buehring, Patriot at Kuwait Naval Base, Udairi Range Complex, Seaport of Debarkation, and Ariel Port of Debarkation located at Kuwait City International Airport.

Some of the services include logistics; engineering services; installation support services; and information management, according to FBO.gov postings.

The day the award to KBR-Triple Canopy was announced, Vectrus' shares dropped from $27.72 to $13.61.