John is a principal with Gray Plant Mooty and concentrates on general business law and transactional law, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions. He also works with clients on joint ventures, lending transactions, executive employment arrangements, and general business matters.
John speaks frequently on mergers and acquisitions and business law topics, and cochairs GPM's Mergers & Acquisitions team.
Experience
- Private company M&A: Representation in strategic acquisitions; Representation of private companies and their shareholders in numerous sales transactions, to strategic, private equity and foreign buyers
- Public company M&A: Advising the board of a publicly held corporation considering an unsolicited purchase offer and strategic alternatives; Representation of a publicly held company in a public to public merger; Representation of publicly held companies in numerous acquisitions and dispositions
- Private equity: Negotiation of purchases and sales with domestic and foreign private equity groups; Representation of platform companies in add-on acquisitions
- Franchise companies: Representation of buyers and sellers of franchisors
- ESOPs: Representation of ESOP-owned companies in acquisitions
- Executive employment: Negotiation of employment agreements for CEO’s and other senior executives of public and private companies; Representation of management teams in private equity acquisitions
- Joint ventures: Negotiating a complex joint venture for product development with a Fortune 100 company; Negotiating joint ventures with utilities for landfill gas generation; Negotiating a joint venture with a manufacturer for monitoring and control
- General advice and counsel to closely held corporations and their owners
Publications
- “M&A Deal Strategies,” chapter author, Aspatore Books of Thompson Reuters
- “Seller’s Preparation for Sale,” Minnesota Continuing Legal Education (CLE)
- “Structuring the Acquisition,” Minnesota CLE
- “Business Acquisition Agreements,” Minnesota CLE
- “Selling Your Business; Some Thoughts on the Process,” New Venture Review
Presentations
- "Working Capital Adjustments and Other Money Points in M&A Transactions," Minnesota CLE 2010 Annual Business Law Institute
- "Structuring the Acquisition," Minnesota CLE Seminar, 2010
- "The New Lawyer Experience," panelist, Minnesota CLE Conference, 2010
- “Acquisitions of Distressed Companies Outside of Chapter 11,” Minnesota CLE 2009 Annual Business Law Institute
- “The Trials & Tribulations of Selling/Terminating an ESOP,” The NCEO/Beyster Institute 2009 Employee Ownership Conference
- Course Chairman and Organizer for Minnesota CLE 2009 Seminar "Advanced Mergers and Acquisitions for the Middle Market," spoke on "Getting the Money Points Right," and moderated a panel discussion on the "State of the M&A Market" and the "General Counsel's Panel Discussion on Acquisitions"
- “Structuring the Acquisition,” Minnesota CLE 2006-2008 seminar on the Purchase and Sale of a Business, and one of the panelists for “Potential Liability Hot Spots”
- Member of the Planning Committee for Minnesota CLE 2005-2009 Annual Business Law Institute
- Spoke on several acquisition topics at Minnesota CLE 2006 Annual Business Law Institute
- Course Chairman and Organizer for Minnesota CLE 2005 Seminar “Mergers & Acquisitions” Spoke on Seller’s Preparation for Sale and The M&A Practitioner Today, and moderated the General Counsel’s Panel Discussion
- “Structuring the Acquisition,” Minnesota CLE 2004-2005 seminar on the Purchase and Sale of a Business
- Course Chairman and Organizer for Minnesota CLE 2004 Seminar “Mergers & Acquisitions—They’re Back!” Spoke on Seller’s Preparation for Sale and on Being an M&A Practitioner Today, and moderated the General Counsel’s Panel Discussion
Education
- University of Chicago Law School, J.D., cum laude
Order of the Coif - Princeton University, B.A.
Woodrow Wilson Scholar
Bar Admissions
Professional Activities
- Association for Corporate Growth Minnesota
- American Bar Association
- Hennepin County Bar Association
- Minnesota State Bar Association
Honors and Distinctions
- “Super Lawyer®,” Thomson/Reuters, 2006-2011
- Named one of Minnesota’s top corporate and mergers & acquisitions attorneys by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, 2005-2010
- Named a Top 100 "Super Lawyer," Minnesota Law & Politics, 2010
- Listed in Band 1, the highest ranking, as a Leading Minnesota Corporate/M&A Lawyer by Chambers USA 2010