The global law firm Jones Day has announced that Rafael Aguilar has joined its Miami Office as a partner in the Banking & Finance Practice. Mr. Aguilar comes from the Miami office of Akerman Senterfitt where he was a shareholder and co-chair of Akerman’s Latin American and Caribbean practice.
“Latin America capabilities are critical to our success in Miami, and indeed, a major part of our decision to expand here,” said Pedro Jimenez, Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day’s Miami Office. “Rafael greatly increases the breadth and quality of the services we can provide to our clients that are doing business in Latin America. Not only has Rafael been practicing in Miami for 12 years, a significant part of his practice includes the representation of investors and lenders engaged in transactions in and out of the Latin American region.”
Mr. Aguilar represents financial institutions, private equity funds, real estate developers, and investors in a broad range of commercial transactions in Latin America and the United States, with an emphasis on mortgage and mezzanine financings, acquisitions and dispositions, and joint ventures. He also has experience in the structuring and formation of real estate investment funds, distressed investments and loan restructurings, transportation infrastructure, and public-private partnerships (P3s). A significant portion of his practice is cross-border in nature.
“As we continue to expand our reach in Latin America, increasing our depth in cross-border finance in the region is critical,” said Bob Graves, co-head of Jones Day’s Banking & Finance Practice. “Rafael’s extensive finance experience in both the U.S. and in Latin America, combined with the number of cross-border deals he’s been a part of — both through real estate finance and representing investment funds — give us additional strength from the U.S. to augment our growing capabilities in Mexico City and Brazil. Rafael will be a terrific addition to our practice.”
Prior to joining Jones Day in 2013, Mr. Aguilar represented the leading operator of casinos and horse racing tracks in Argentina in the acquisition of the Dania Jai Alai in Dania Beach, Florida; a leading global bank in the origination of mortgage loans to Latin American and U.S.-based borrowers to finance commercial properties in Florida and other jurisdictions; a European-based private equity fund in a joint venture for the acquisition and development of a master-planned luxury residential resort in Panama and in the complex restructuring of an investment in the Dominican Republic; a leading Spanish construction company in the acquisition of various construction companies in Florida; a global telecommunications company in the development and construction of its terrestrial fiber-optic cable networks in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela; an Argentine natural gas transportation company in a project financing of a natural gas pipeline linking Argentina and Brazil; and a Canadian-based homebuilder in various complex acquisitions of land for residential development in Florida and related bank financings and joint ventures.
Mr. Aguilar earned his B.A. from Yale University, and his LL.M. and J.D. from New York University. Prior to joining Akerman in Miami, he practiced in New York at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Skadden Arps, respectively.
