Explain Your Job, Simply.

If a foreign company wants to buy a U.S. company, there’s a government-wide review process called CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investment in The United States). 

The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) submits one risk report on behalf of the entire DOD. It’s a consolidation of separate reports from the Navy, Army, Airforce, Marine Corps and others. I’m responsible for the Navy’s portion. 

If Ryan’s Bakery in Charlottesville is being bought by Matt’s LLC (UK), we probably aren’t concerned. However, if a company that does business with the Navy, or develops specific Navy tech is being purchased, we take a deeper look at that.

If the company works on sonar, submarine tech, or radar systems, or produces airplane parts, the Navy could be affected — so our job is to identify and assess the significance of any risks to the Navy posed by that foreign acquisition.

We look at financials, filing materials explaining the intent of the buyer, and what stakeholders within the Navy may be impacted from the transaction. If a company that manufactures airplane components is acquired and the new owners decide to stop selling those components to the Navy, that could become problematic. My team identifies what departments/organizations within the Navy use those airplane components and we work with them to determine what the effect might be. If we can’t get components from them anymore, can we get them from someone else? How long would it take to change sources? Would it cost more? Are the components only made by them or can you buy them anywhere? How quickly could we start getting them from a new source? Would there be a lapse where we aren’t able to get them? Stuff like that.

It feels as close as I can get to IB and Consulting within the Navy.