WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. filed a civil

lawsuit on Tuesday against private equity firm KKR & Co ( KKR ),

"for repeatedly flouting the premerger antitrust review

process," alleging the company avoided antitrust scrutiny for at

least 16 deals from 2021 to 2022.

"Through document omissions, alterations, and failures to

report deals, KKR threatened the integrity of the (Antitrust)

Division's premerger reviews and, in some cases, obscured the

market impact of its deals and serial acquisitions," said

Justice Department official Doha Mekki.

In a related lawsuit filed against the DOJ in federal court

in Washington on Tuesday, KKR said, "After a sweeping

investigation that has spanned nearly three years - with which

KKR fully cooperated - the purported filing 'errors' the

Antitrust Division has identified are trivial."

"Not a single alleged 'error' was material to or interfered

with any merger review," KKR added.