People

Maurice Allen and Michael Goetz have agreed to join law firm Ropes & Gray, after serving as co-heads of the banking and capital markets practice groups of White & Case. The pair will help Ropes & Gray open a London office in January, which will focus on the private equity and debt markets.

Algon Group, an Atlanta-based financial advisory firm, has hired Heather L. Barlow as a senior managing director and Bradley Edwards, G. Travis Hendren, and Janet L. Protas as managing directors. Barlow was as formerly a senior banker in the Restructuring Advisory Group at CIBC World Markets Corp. Hendren was a Director with Wachovia in its Investment Banking division.

Jonathan Bloom has joined Ropes & Gray LLP as a London-based partner in the law firm’s debt financing practice. He previously was a partner in the high yield practice of White & Case.

Michael Blum has joined ORIX USA as a managing director and head of corporate development and strategic opportunities. He previously spent 16 years with Merrill Lynch.

Andrew Bonnano has joined Kohlberg & Co. as managing director of business development. He previously was VP of business development for American Capital‘s New York-based buyouts team.

Gustavo Eiben has joined Auroes Capital as head of North American investor relations. He previously was with J.P. Morgan Chase, and before that with Schroder Ventures US and UBS.

Mary-Laura Greely has joined McDermott Will & Emery LLP as a Boston-based partner in the firm’s corporate department. She previously was head of the private company practice at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo.

Hudson Capital Partners, a Newton, Mass.-based adviser for retail and consumer products asset dispositions, has appointed Elijah Kaplan vice president of capital markets. In the newly created position, Kaplan will focus on originating investment opportunities by marketing the firm’s products and services to capital markets participants such as financial sponsors, distressed investors, lenders, and advisers.

Kai-Ching Lin has joined Houlihan Lokey as a managing director, focused on the valuation of complex securities. Lin previously was a managing director in the financial engineering practice of Duff & Phelps.

Charlie Mamrak has joined Chicago-based private equity firm Linden LLC as an operating partner. He previously was CEO of PML Microbiologicals.

Apax Partners has named Sandeep Naik and Shashank Singh as co-heads of the firm’s India office. They both joined the firm in 2004 — New York and London offices, respectively — before relocating to India in 2006. Apax said that former India head Neeraj Bharadwaj “is leaving [Apax] to join a U.S. growth capital firm.”

Peter Shannon has agreed to join Firelake Capital as a partner. He previously was a cleantech-focused principal with Atlas Venture.

Toronto-based advisory firm Beringer Capital has added to its team Managing Directors Michael Sifton and Josef Prosperi. Sifton was previously president and CEO of Sun Media; Propseri was previously a director at Teachers’ Private Capital, the private equity division of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board.

Frank Tannura has joined LaSalle Capital Group as a senior operating advisor. He previously was CEO of Packaging Dynamics Corporation.

Michael Wolfe has rejoined Benchmark Capital as an entrepreneur-in-residence. His last Benchmark-backed company was Vontu, whichwas acquired by Symantec in 2007.

Citigroup appointed Jing Zhao and Simon Yoo as co-heads of its Asia Pacific Financial Institutions Group (FIG), putting in place leaders of a team with 90 bankers spread across the region. Both will be based in Hong Kong and report to Farhan Faruqui, Citi’s head of Asia Pacific Global Banking, a Citigroup spokesman said.