Axel Miranda

AXEL MIRANDA represents clients on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, restructurings, private offerings, and private equity and venture capital fund formation and investments. He has extensive experience in general corporate law and corporate governance, advising on a range of complex cross-border transactions involving countries in North, Central and South America, Europe, and Asia. Axel regularly assists corporations and venture capital funds in financings, strategic investments, and cross-border licensing and technology transactions. He also represents domestic and multinational clients on investments in, and acquisitions of, major professional sports teams in the United States and abroad.

Axel’s leadership and experience has earned him the following awards and recognitions:

• Legal 500 Latin America, “Leading Associate – Corporate and M&A” (2025 – 2026)
• Legal 500 Latin America, Recommended as “City Leaders: Miami” (2025)
• American Bar Association, “On the Rise – Top 40 Young Lawyer” (2024)
• Legal 500 Latin America, “Rising Star – Corporate and M&A” (2024)
• Legal 500 Latin America, Recommended for “City Focus: Miami” (2024 – 2026)
• Legal 500 Latin America, “Rising Star – Corporate and M&A” (2023)
• Latinvex, “Top 25 Rising Legal Star – Latin America” (2020)

Axel has also been inducted to the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation (an arm of the American Bar Association). Membership in the ABF Fellows is by invite-only and limited to 1% of licensed lawyers in a jurisdiction.

Prior to joining Sidley, Axel served as a corporate associate for two global law firms in their Miami offices. He graduated from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, where he was the recipient of the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Scholarship, the Carl McGowan Fellowship, the Edward and Darlene Meier Scholarship, and the Public Service Star.

Axel is fluent in Spanish, Italian, and English.

Entertainment, Sports and Media:

• A minority investor in connection with an investment of 5% in the New England Patriots NFL franchise, with a valuation of over US$9 billion. The historic sale represents the first time Patriots owner Robert Kraft has sold any part of the team since he acquired it for US$172 million in 1994, and it took place alongside a simultaneous 3% sale to private equity firm Sixth Street.
• A sponsor consortium comprised of global asset manager DWS Group (as sponsor and investment advisor to an investor consortium) and specialist investor in and manager of media music rights Cutting Edge Group (as lead investor and manager) in the creation of a joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery that constitutes one of the largest and highest valued music rights deals ever executed covering almost a century’s worth of music copyrights (over 400,000 compositions and song cues – including the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises, DC Comics movies, as well as TV shows such as Friends, Game of Thrones, The Big Bang Theory, Two and Half Men, Succession, and The White Lotus).
• Investor in the consortium led by Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore that acquired a controlling interest in the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and WNBA’s Lynx.
• Investor in connection with the acquisition of a minority stake in the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.
• Former American soccer star Jozy Altidore in his acquisition of a minority stake in the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.
• Three-time Super Bowl Champion, five-time All Pro Player, and Pro Football Hall of Famer Richard Seymour in his acquisition of a minority stake in the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.
• Angel City FC (ACFC) and its ownership group in equity financing matters related to the sale of a controlling interest to Willow Bay and Bob Iger.
• American consortium in connection with its sale of stake in Paris FC to LVMH’s Arnault family and Red Bull.
• The National Football League in connection with private equity-related matters related to its investment in New Era Cap.
• Co-lead investor Gabe Plotkin in the consortium purchasing the controlling stake of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets from Michael Jordan. The transaction is valued at approximately US$3 billion.
• Multiple investors in the Josh Harris-led consortium that acquired the Washington Commanders of the NFL from the Snyder family. The US$6.05 billion purchase price is the highest price ever paid for a professional sports franchise.
• A diverse group led by Laura Ricketts and other prominent Chicago women business and civic leaders in its acquisition of the Chicago Red Stars NWSL franchise, valued at US$60 million.
• Spanish football club Atletico Madrid in connection with commercial matters.
• LaLiga in connection with its US business operations.
• Genius Sports in its acquisition of Sportzcast Inc., a leading U.S. manufacturer of sports scoreboard data distribution systems.
• Kygo in connection with a Series Seed financing for the Palm Tree Crew platform.
• Vertical Bridge in the US$213 million acquisition of nearly all of the towers owned by broadcast company Cumulus Media and certain other related assets.
• Liberty Latin America Ltd., a leading telecommunications company with operations in Chile, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and other parts of Latin America, in its acquisition of an 80% stake in Cabletica, a leading Costa Rican cable operator, from Televisora Costa Rica, S.A., for approximately US$250 million.

General M&A and Venture Capital:

• SoftBank in connection with:
  • A Series C financing round in Nowports, an automated digital freight forwarder based in México.
  • A financing round in Trela, a Brazilian collective shopping startup.
  • A Series B financing round for Incode, a next-generation identity and authentication platform for global enterprises.
  • A Series C financing round in Addi, a fintech startup based in Bogotá, Colombia that offers buy-now-pay-later technology.
  • A Series D financing round in Open Co, a Brazilian consumer credit company.
  • A Series B financing round for Laika, a Colombia-based pet supplies e-commerce platform.
  • The US$40 billion sale of UK headquartered multinational semiconductor and software design company Arm Limited to U.S. chip company NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA).
  • The sale of its stake in robotics company Boston Dynamics, Inc., valued at US$1.1 billion, to Hyundai Motor Company.
  • A US$200 million financing round in Mercado Bitcoin, Latin America’s largest digital assets platform and the first crypto unicorn in Brazil.
  • A US$150 million (R$822 million) preferred equity investment in Afya Limited, the largest medical education group in Brazil.
  • A R$450 million (c. US$84.5 million) financing round in Descomplica, the first Brazilian EdTech company to enter the higher education market.
  • A US$108 million financing round in Pismo, a technology company providing an all-in-one processing platform for banking, payments, and financial markets infrastructure.
  • A Series C financing round totaling US$50 million in GAIA, an e-commerce platform for the sale of furniture and design accessories in México.
  • Its investment of US$150 million into a subsidiary of Grupo Bursátil Mexicano (GBM ), a leading investment platform in the Mexican stock market.
  • A joint venture with WeWork that provides the client with the exclusive right to operate the WeWork brand in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and México.
  • A Series E financing round totaling US$190 million in MadeiraMadeira, a Brazilian online home goods platform.
  • Its sale of a majority stake in Brightstar Corp., a subsidiary of SoftBank and the global leader of end-to-end device lifecycle solutions for carriers, retailers, and enterprise, managing mobile devices, to Brightstar Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on partnering with founders, entrepreneurs, and management teams.
  • A Series C financing round in Jusbrasil, a platform that connects people to justice through lawyers and legal information.
  • A Series C financing round in Contabilizei, a Brazilian online platform that offers affordable tax-filing and accounting SaaS for SMEs in Brazil.
  • A Series D financing round in Olist, a Brazilian e-commerce platform.
  • A Series D financing round totaling US$225 million in VTEX, a leading e-commerce platform serving global brands and retailers in 28 countries.
  • A Series C financing round totaling US$225 million in Kavak, a Mexican online platform for buying and selling used cars.
  • A Series B financing round totaling US$108 million in Acesso Digital, a Brazilian IDTech pioneer in ID protection solutions.
  • The establishment of a Latin America-focused joint venture with OYO, a SoftBank portfolio company.
  • A Series C financing round in Cortex, a Brazilian data science company.
  • A Series B financing round totaling US$125 million in AlphaCredit, one of the fastest growing technology-enabled financial platforms in Latin America.
  • A joint US$150 million Series C round investment with Tencent in Argentine fintech company Ualá.
  • A US$100 million investment in Konfío, an online lending platform in México.
• Petlove&Co in connection with its financing round with existing major investors: Tarpon, SoftBank, L Catterton, Porto Seguro, and Monashees, and a new initial investment by Riverwood Capital.
• Sky Harbour LLC, a developer of private aviation infrastructure focused on building, leasing, and managing business aviation hangars, in connection with its business combination agreement with Yellowstone Acquisition Company (NASDAQ: YSAC, YSACU, and YSACW), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by Boston Omaha Corporation (NASDAQ: BOMN).
• Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) in its acquisition of YellowPepper, a fintech pioneer with proprietary technology and partnerships supporting leading financial institutions and startups across nine Latin American and Caribbean countries including Brazil, México, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and Trinidad, and, Tobago.
• Rentokil North America, the North American subsidiary of Rentokil Initial plc (LSE: RTO), in its acquisition of 100% of the issued and outstanding membership interests of Vector Disease Acquisition, LLC.
• Linx S.A., a management software solutions provider, in its acquisition of Synthesis Group, a software developer and consultancy company.

Finance:

• Sky Harbour Capital LLC, a subsidiary of aviation infrastructure developer Sky Harbour LLC, in its agreement to sell US$166.34 million Series 2021 private activity tax-exempt senior bonds through municipal conduit issuer Public Finance Authority.
• The Chilean, Peruvian, and Colombian operating companies of Andean Telecom Partners in a syndicated senior secured financing totaling approximately US$170 million and a subsequent syndicated senior secured financing totaling US$35 million.
• Andean Tower Partners Colombia, an operator and developer of wireless telecommunications infrastructure owned by Digital Bridge, in the US$55 million refinancing operation granted by Scotiabank Colpatria. Andean Tower Partners Colombia is expected to use the funds to develop and acquire telecommunications infrastructure assets.
• CIFI Panama, S.A., a non-bank financial institution in Latin America and the Caribbean specializing in infrastructure and energy financing, in a structuring of a corporate loan for TAG Group, S.A. and certain of its affiliates.
• Avianca Group airlines in the financing of three Airbus A320-233 aircraft and one Airbus A319-132 aircraft.

Restructuring:

• Counsel to the official committee of unsecured creditors of Grupo Aeroméxico, S.A.B. de C.V. and its affiliated debtors in their chapter 11 cases. Aeroméxico is the leading airline in Mexico and a founding member of the SkyTeam alliance.
• Counsel to the official committee of unsecured creditors of Avianca Holdings S.A. and its 38 affiliated debtors in their chapter 11 cases. Avianca is the largest airline in Colombia and El Salvador and the second largest in Latin America.

Some of the above matters were handled prior to joining Sidley.