Brian J. Klein
Partner
Co-Chair of Financial Services Group
Overview
Brian Klein has chaired the Financial Services Group for more than 15 years and also serves on the Maslon board of directors. He has extensive experience representing corporate trustees, financial institutions, and other capital providers in all forms of commercial financing transactions. These include the areas of general commercial lending and leasing, asset-based lending, loan syndications, mezzanine/second-lien loans, real estate term and construction financing, indenture trustee representation, project finance, and chattel paper warehouse financing.
Brian also regularly represents lenders and corporate trustees in workout and restructuring matters. These matters include representation of indenture trustees in defaulted municipal and corporate bond issuances, collateralized debt obligations, and mortgage-backed securities, together with trust instruction proceedings related to the administration of corporate trusts.
Brian is also a member of Maslon's Real Estate Group and has represented owners and lenders in all aspects of commercial real estate, including acquisition and financing matters.
Experience
Has represented:
- National bank as agent in $800 million syndicated revolving loan facility to an industrial product distributor with international operations.
- Regional lender involving secured revolving and real estate credit facilities to parent company with regional grocery store operations.
- Trustee and Collateral Agent in connection with defaulted project financings for energy projects based in Brazil and Venezuela.
- Indenture Trustee in connection with default involving $8.3 billion of bonds issued by Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.
- Indenture Trustee related to defaulted bond restructuring involving Windstream Services.
- Indenture Trustee in bankruptcy and reorganization of large wireless telecommunications company involving conversion of existing notes to equity and issuance of new high yield notes.
- Indenture Trustee in workout and bankruptcy restructuring of public bond issuance to oil and gas developer secured by oil and gas interests in multiple jurisdictions.
- Indenture Trustee with respect to foreclosure of real estate project and collection of municipal bond issuance, with related trust instruction proceeding.
- National bank as agent in $500 million secured syndicated revolving loan facility to an oil and gas jobber and operator of multi-state chain of convenience stores.
- National lender in connection with a $300 million revolving credit facility to a U.S. industrial manufacturer with operations in Australia, Canada, and the UK.
- National lender in connection with a $40 million real estate acquisition and construction financing for a Las Vegas condominium project.
- National asset-based lender in connection with the workout of a large asset-based credit facility to a multi-state food processing company.
- Hedge fund in workout of several large corporate dairy farmers in the southeastern United States.
- Real estate developer in connection with the acquisition, redevelopment, and leasing of a retail strip center.
Honors
Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America®, 2021-2025
Recognized on Minnesota Super Lawyers® list, 2024 (Minnesota Super Lawyers® is a designation given to only 5% of Minnesota attorneys each year, based on a selection process that includes the recommendation of peers in the legal profession.)
Recognized as a Top Lawyer, Minnesota Monthly, 2022 (The research for the Top Lawyers list, created by Professional Research Services, is based on an online peer-review survey sent to all attorneys in Minnesota.)