Cooley Strengthens Fund Formation Practice With Addition of Key Tax Hire

Chicago – February 19, 2025 – Aalok Virmani has joined Cooley’s Chicago office as a tax partner in the firm’s fund formation practice group.

Virmani joins Cooley from DLA Piper, where he focused his practice on advising investment fund sponsors on federal income tax matters. He is a leading tax counselor with extensive experience in guiding clients through fund formation processes. Virmani works closely with sponsors to establish investment firms and develop tax-efficient arrangements for their capital commitments, management fees and carried interests, along with advising on secondary transactions, continuation funds and general partner minority-stake deals. Virmani frequently counsels foreign governments, pension funds, family offices and funds of funds on the tax aspects of investing in investment funds.

“Aalok is a renowned practitioner in fund formation focused on domestic and international taxation,” said John Clendenin, Cooley partner and chair of the firm’s global fund formation practice group. “The growth of Cooley’s fund formation tax capability is a key strategic priority, and Aalok’s addition to our team will further benefit our investment fund clients as we expand our private equity fund formation capabilities.”

Virmani started his career at KPMG in the international tax group and later worked in house at Equity International, which primarily invested in growth-stage real estate companies in emerging markets. Virmani then spent close to six years at Kirkland & Ellis, where he advised clients on a variety of transactional tax matters, including in connection with fund structuring and formation.

“I’m excited to join Cooley at a pivotal time for the global fund formation and regulatory space,” said Virmani. “Cooley’s unique platform and comprehensive client solutions provide best-in-class strategic counsel and position the firm to further expand our fund formation capabilities. I have been fortunate to work in a variety of contexts within the investment management sector, and I am thrilled, as a next step, to work alongside the firm’s premier tax and fund formation teams.”

Cooley’s fund formation practice provides primary counsel to more than 800 investment fund organizations. The deep bench of 60+ lawyers has helped collate $100 billion+ in committed capital in closings in the last three years alone. Its client investments span the US, China, Europe, India, Vietnam, Singapore, Israel, South America and elsewhere. The group formed the first venture capital limited partnership in the western US – active in China for four decades and in India for three. The team advises on every type of fund formation, including venture capital, fund of funds, private equity, evergreen, growth equity and other managers at all states and sizes, from individual angel funds to billion-dollar investment funds.

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