Sale of Metal Forging Facilities to the Aluminum Company of America and the Wyman-Gordon Company

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed certain aspects of the General Services Administration's (GSA) sales of two metal forging facilities owned by the Air Force. Specific concerns were that: (1) the sales were taking place without competitive bidding; and (2) the prices paid for the facilities were far below their true value.

GAO found that the sales of the facilities appeared to have been properly administered by GSA and were in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Since the purchasers had ongoing Department of Defense contracts which made use of the facilities and the Air Force determined that the performance of these contracts could not be disrupted by the sale of the facilities to other contractors, GSA was not in a position to make the sales through competitive bidding. Further, considering that GSA obtained estimates from an independent appraiser of the fair market values of both facilities before negotiating the sales prices with the purchasers, GAO had no basis upon which to criticize the GSA procedures for establishing the sale prices.