Dana Zelman

Primary Focus & Experience

Ms. Zelman is an experienced regulatory attorney focused on transactional, foreign investment and national security matters. She counsels global companies, sovereign wealth funds and large institutional investors on issues related to foreign direct investment into the United States; outbound US investment; national security, including cyber and supply chain security and related compliance; international trade and export control matters; and telecommunications.

Ms. Zelman represents clients in transaction reviews and enforcement matters in front of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) and other related Executive Branch authorities such as the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls; the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the US Telecommunications Services Sector (known as “Team Telecom”); and the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency.  

Ms. Zelman is highly experienced with regulatory environments for a wide variety of industries, in particular telecommunications, media and technology, energy/infrastructure, transportation, aerospace/defense, satellite and biotechnology sectors. She also has strong experience in the negotiation, structuring, implementation and monitoring of complex agreements for mitigation of national security risks.

Select representations that Ms. Zelman has advised on, including at prior firms, include:

• Represented T-Mobile US, Inc. in connection with regulatory approvals for its 2018 merger with Sprint and numerous other investments, acquisitions, and other compliance matters
• Represented Maxar Technologies Inc. in front of CFIUS and other regulatory agencies in connection with its $6.4 billion acquisition by Advent International and British Columbia Investment Management Corp. This deal was named 2023 “Private Equity Deal of the Year” at IFLR's Americas Awards.
• Secured several regulatory approvals for Incora in connection with PIMCO’s $1.75 billion majority investment in the company following Incora’s bankruptcy
• Represented the seller consortium group (three public Canadian investor entities) on the $3.2 billion sale of terminals in the Port of New York and New Jersey
• Represented ABB in the $505 million sale of its Lineage Power Holdings business to Acbel Polytech Inc.
• Assisting the Puerto Rican subsidiary of a large Mexican telecommunications provider with obtaining national security approval and negotiating a new agreement with the Department of Justice in connection with its restructuring
• Advising an Australian investment fund in obtaining US regulatory and national security approval for an investment in a submarine cable
• Advising major US and international telecommunications providers on global telecom and technology product and service roll out
• Advocating for CFIUS rule changes in front of the Treasury Department on behalf of large Australian institutional investors

Recognition & Accomplishments

Ms. Zelman earned her J.D. from the University of Georgia, and she received her B.A., summa cum laude, and her A.B.J., summa cum laude, from the University of Georgia.