Overview
Damon Kalt's practice encompasses all aspects of antitrust law, including private litigation, class action defense, cartel investigations, compliance counseling, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and representation of clients in connection with civil investigations by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), among other regulators. He has extensive experience representing clients across a number of industries, including internet/technology, telecommunications, health care, computer software and hardware, waste services, aerospace, energy, machine tools, financial services, and automotive repair equipment, among others.
Damon has extensive government experience, having worked as a trial attorney in the Attorney General's Honors Program of the DOJ's Antitrust Division and as a law clerk in the FTC's Northwest Regional Office. At the DOJ, Damon worked in the Technology & Financial Services Section on civil merger and non-merger investigations in the information technology, software, and financial services industries. Some of the more notable matters that he worked on at the Antitrust Division include United States v. Pearson plc (D.D.C. 2008), and the Google/Yahoo, Chicago Mercantile Exchange/Chicago Board of Trade, Whirlpool/Maytag, and Blackboard/WebCT investigations.
Damon most recently served as senior counsel for antitrust and competition at Cigna Corporation, where he advised on antitrust and competition law-related issues across the company's various lines of business including medical, pharmacy, Medicare and Medicaid. Damon served as the primary internal counsel for all antitrust and competition aspects of Cigna's acquisition Express Scripts, a vertical transaction that the DOJ approved unconditionally in September 2018.
- District of Columbia
- J.D., University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, 2004
- B.A., University of California, Berkeley, 1999
Representative Matters
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Primary internal antitrust counsel for Cigna's $67 billion acquisition of Express Scripts.
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Successfully defended a major company in a DOJ Antitrust Division gun-jumping investigation in 2016.
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Represented Republic Services before the DOJ Antitrust Division in its acquisition of Tervita, an oil field services company, for $485 million. Early termination granted following presentation to DOJ.
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Represented Entergy in connection with its acquisition of a CCGT power plant before the DOJ. Damon managed the response to the DOJ Antitrust Division's Second Request and assisted in obtaining clearance for the merger.
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Represented Republic Services before the DOJ Antitrust Division in its acquisition of Rainbow Services, Inc. Early termination granted following presentation to DOJ.
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Represented Netflix, Inc. in successfully opposing the proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable.
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Represented a large government contractor in a DOJ teaming agreement investigation in the intelligence industry.
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Represented a large global manufacturer and industrial equipment supplier before the FTC in its $1.15 billion sale of its automotive solutions division. Damon managed the response to the FTC's Second Request and assisted in obtaining clearance for the merger.
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Represented a large retail real estate company before the FTC in its $2.3 billion acquisition of a competing outlet mall portfolio. Damon assisted in obtaining clearance for the merger, with minimal remedies, following an extensive investigation. The merger combined two of the largest players in the outlet mall industry.
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Counsel for third parties before the DOJ, FTC, and European Commission to support/oppose proposed mergers or negotiate favorable remedy terms on behalf of clients. Damon has represented third-parties in several recent merger transactions, including the acquisition of Skype Global S.à r.l. by Microsoft Corp., the acquisition of EMI Recorded Music by Vivendi, S.A., and the acquisition of EMI Music Publishing by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, among others.
Speaking Engagements
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Annual Antitrust, Competition and Trade Practice Group Meeting, Lex Mundi, September 16, 2016
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"Emerging Antitrust Issues: Non-Reportable Transactions Explored LIVE Webcast," The Knowledge Group Live Webcast Series, November 13, 2014
News & Publications
Professional Affiliations
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American Bar Association, Section of Antitrust Law