Two affiliated entities may each be considering bidding in the auction and may separately submit a separate Part 1 Application, unaware that the other is also submitting a Part 1 Application. Your question, however, implies that both Entity A and Entity B are aware that the other is submitting a Part 1 Application. Thus, if the two affiliated entities know that the other is preparing a Part 1 Application for the auction so that these entities will have communicated their potential intention to bid to each other, these entities are considered to be bidding as part of a bidding agreement, joint venture for the purpose of bidding in the auction, bidding consortium, or other arrangement (“Arrangement”) pertaining to bidding in the auction. These entities should follow the procedures for entities that have entered into an Arrangement, as described in ACI-47 or ACI-48 found in the Association and Confidential Information Rules Q&A.

Any Arrangement pertaining to bidding in an auction must be disclosed in the Part 1 Application using the Insert prepared for this purpose. If the parties to this Arrangement qualify, the parties do so as a single “Joint Bidder”. The Joint Bidder receives a single notification of qualification naming the entities that are parties to the Arrangement. The list of Qualified Bidders included with the notification of qualification has a single entry for the Joint Bidder, naming all entities participating in the Arrangement (e.g., the entities are listed as “Entity A and Entity B” on a single line or in some other manner that makes it clear that the entities have qualified as a single joint bidder).

Thus it is the Joint Bidder that becomes the Qualified Bidder able to submit a Part 2 Application; each party separately does not have the status of a Qualified Bidder and cannot continue in the Auction Process separately. Status as a Qualified Bidder cannot be rescinded or changed after the Auction Manager has issued the Notification of Qualification. In particular, the Qualified Bidder status of the Joint Bidder cannot be assigned or transferred to one of the parties to the Arrangement. Applicants certify in their Part 1 Application that they will not assign or transfer their status as a Qualified Bidder to another party.

Further, an entity that receives a Notification of Qualification, either as a single entity or as a Joint Bidder, acquires Qualified Bidder status and retains this status until the end of the Auction Process. Similarly, an entity, either as a single entity or as a Joint Bidder, that receives a Notification of Registration acquires Registered Bidder status and retains this status until the end of the Auction Process. There is no possibility to rescind or change this status. This means that an entity that becomes a Qualified Bidder and that does not submit a Part 2 Application is bound by all the certifications it has made in the Part 1 Application; this applies to both entities that enter an Arrangement. Similarly, an entity, either as a single entity or as a Joint Bidder, that becomes a Registered Bidder is bound by all the certifications it has made in the Part 1 and Part 2 Applications, regardless of whether the Registered Bidder subsequently participates in the auction.

Please review the certifications in the Part 1 and Part 2 Applications for more details and in particular for the time period during which these certifications must remain in effect.

Please note that assignment is possible under Section 15.3 of the BGS Supplier Master Agreements.  Thus, if one of Entity A or Entity B participates at the auction and wins, that entity could assign its tranches to the other entity at a later time, subject to the conditions of Section 15.3.