2200 IDS Center
80 South 8th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55402

Direct: 612.977.8195
Fax: 612.977.8650


Extended Biography

Related Practices
Commercial Lending
 Asset-Based Lending
 Banking and Finance

John R. Brennan

Associate; Financial Institutions and Real Estate

 John is an associate in the firm of Briggs and Morgan, Professional Association. He is a member of the Financial Institutions and Real Estate Section and practices principally in the areas of:
  • Banking and finance Commercial lending
  • Asset-based lending
  • Loan workouts/restructurings
  • Bankruptcy and creditors’ rights

John’s professional experience includes representing banks and other lenders in structuring, negotiating and documenting a wide variety of commercial finance transactions, including traditional commercial and asset-based loan transactions, real estate financing and syndicated credit facilities. John also represents banks and other lenders in loan workouts and restructurings by protecting the interests of creditors within and outside of the bankruptcy context.

Recent representative transactions including serving as:
  • agent’s counsel to a national bank in connection with a $60 million multi-lender, syndicated senior asset-based revolving credit facility financing a leveraged buyout transaction of a large regional distributor and involving private equity investment and mezzanine financing;
  • agent’s counsel to a national bank in connection with a $60 million multi-lender, syndicated senior asset-based revolving credit facility financing the strategic acquisition of a competitor in the telecommunications industry;
  • agent’s counsel to a national bank in connection with an $18 million syndicated asset-based revolving credit and equipment loan facility providing working capital and equipment financing;
  • senior lender’s counsel to a large regional lender in connection with an $11.5 million revolving line of credit and term loan facility in connection with a strategic acquisition of a competitor in the medical device industry;
  • senior lender’s counsel in connection with a substantial financial restructuring of a $35 million asset-based revolving credit facility to a national manufacturer of industrial products;
  • senior lender’s counsel in connection with a substantial financial restructuring of a $30 million asset-based revolving credit facility to a large regional manufacturer of consumer goods; and
  • senior lender’s counsel in connection with a loan workout of a $20 million revolving credit and term loan facility.

John is licensed to practice in Minnesota state and federal courts. He is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA), the American Bar Association (ABA) and the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers (MABL). In 2009 and 2010, John presented the continuing legal education course, Nuts & Bolts: Tips for Transactional Attorneys, in conjunction with the Hennepin County Bar Association.

Born in Wausau, Wisconsin, John received a B.S. in finance, and later an M.B.A., from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. He received his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School. In the community, John serves as a board member of Ascension Place, Inc., which operates two transitional housing facilities for women in crisis situations. John was a law clerk at Briggs for three years before joining the firm as an attorney in 2008.