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David Brandes has joined San Francisco-based investment firm Bay Grove Capital as managing director. Brandes joins the firm from Shorenstein Properties, a real estate private equity firm that has sponsored funds totaling $6.7 billion. Brandes was at Shorenstein for nine years and worked on sourcing, negotiating and executing investments.

Covington & Burling LLP said it added four partners to its life sciences team in London. The new attorneys—Paul Claydon, Natalie Diep, James Gubbins and James Halstead—will work on M&A, private equity and venture transactions.

Brian Davis has joined mid-market firm Sentinel Capital Partners to lead its new investment sourcing efforts. Davis previously was a partner and managing director at McColl Partners, a mid-market investment banking firm. Earlier he worked at DeWolff Boberg & Associates, a management consulting firm. Sentinel Capital is based in New York.

Mary Ann Deignan will join Bank of America Merrill Lynch as managing director and head of Americas Equity Capital Markets, the firm announced. Beginning in August, Deignan will be responsible for equity and equity-linked capital markets, syndicate and corporate equity derivative activities in the region. Deignan previously spent seven years at UBS.

Juan Delgado-Moreira has relocated to Asia in Hamilton Lane’s private equity management services practice. Delgado-Moreira relocates from the firm’s London offices. Prior to joining Hamilton Lane in 2005, Delgado-Moreira worked with Baring Private Equity Partners in London.

Fifth Street Finance announced a series of personnel moves. Lawrence Beller, Brian Finkelstein and Kyde Sharp were all promoted to director positions from vice president, the investment firm announced earlier this week. Fred Chung was hired as an associate.

Marius Haas has joined Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. as an industry adviser. Haas joined from Hewlett-Packard, where he was senior vice president and worldwide general manager of the HP Networking Division. Prior to joining Hewlett-Packaged in 2001, Haas spent six years with Compaq Computer Corp. in various senior operating roles. At KKR, he will help the team identify and pursue new investments, particularly in the technology sector.

Ronnie Kaplan was promoted to managing director of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners‘ Deep Value Fund. Peter Deschner was also named a director of the fund. Levine Leichtman is a Los Angeles firm.

Jonathan Krieger has joined Berkery Noyes as a managing director. He will focus on the health care information technology sector. Krieger was previously with ThinkEquity LLC, where he led the firm’s health care IT investment banking practice.

Terry Leahy, the former chief executive of food retailer Tesco PLC, is joining Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Reuters reported. He will become a senior adviser to the firm and will be based in London.

Richard Lenny, former chairman and chief executive of the Hershey Co., has joined Friedman Fleischer & Lowe as an operating partner. Before Hershey, Lenny held high-profile roles including president of Nabisco Biscuit Co., president of Pillsbury North America, and various roles at Kraft Foods. San Francisco-based Friedman Fleischer & Lowe has approximately $2.5 billion under management, and focuses on middle-market deals. In his new role at the firm, Lenny will help identify and evaluate new investment opportunities in the consumer products sector, as well as provide guidance to portfolio companies.

Andrew Levy has joined Newbury Partners, the Connecticut-based private equity secondary market investor, as a managing director. Previously, Levy worked with Auda Private Equity, where he worked on secondaries and co-investments.

Ben Marzouk has joined Praesidian Capital, a provider of mezzanine capital for small and mid-sized companies, as a managing director. Marzouk was previously founder and partner of Mid-Market Credit Advisors, a provider of strategic and advisory services relating to capital raising, M&A and restructuring. Earlier in his career, he spent seven years as a managing director of Investment Banking Services at CIT Group Inc. Based in New York City, Praesidian Capital manages more than $700 million in committed capital.

Charles Miller has joined Blue Wolf Capital Partners as a partner based in the firm’s New York offices. He will also serve as Blue Wolf’s chief compliance officer. For the past 14 years, Miller has been an equity partner at Patton Boggs LLP, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm that advises institutional investors on mergers and acquisitions and other transactions. Since 2005, Miller has acted as counsel to Blue Wolf on virtually all of its investments.

Rajesh C. has joined Nereus Capital as a managing director. Nereus Capital is a renewable energy-focused private equity fund in India. Previously, Rajesh was head of investments of PTC India Financial Services Ltd and Green Infra Ltd. Northern Lights Capital Group is a strategic investor in Nereus.

Jeffrey T. Roberts has joined Vision Capital, the Toronto-based investment firm, as a senior vice president and assistant portfolio manager. He comes after having spent seven years as a real estate analyst with Desjardins Securities.

Silicon Valley Bank has appointed technology and life science banker Mercy Forde, and hired venture fund CFO Nina Labatt, to its Venture Capital and Private Equity Services team. Forde has spent the past 17 years at Silicon Valley Bank, specializing in life science and technology companies. Labatt worked previously at Health Evolution Partners and Labrador Ventures.

Investment management firm Spring Mountain Capital has added Avi Faliks and Jamie Weston as managing directors in its private equity business. Both will work on sourcing, selecting, and managing its private equity investments. Faliks previously founded Vertex Capital Management, a firm focused on distressed consumer companies that were restructured, rebuilt and sold to strategic investors. Earlier, Faliks was the co-founder and managing director of hedge fund Apex Capital Management. Weston was previously a partner at Wicks Group, a private equity firm with close to $1 billion under management. Spring Mountain Capital is based in New York.

Steven Springsteel has been named chief financial officer at MarkLogic Corp., which is backed by investors Sequoia Capital and Tenaya Capital. Springsteel joins from U.S. Venture Partners, where he was an entrepreneur-in-residence. Previously Springsteel held president and chief executive positions at software companies including Chordiant Software, Verity and Sagent Technology.

Nathan Thorne, George Bitar and Mandy Puri have joined BlackRock to build a private equity platform that will include about 20 professionals within the next year. The three executives, who founded Merrill Lynch’s private equity business in 1994, will report to Matthew Botein, managing director and Head of BlackRock Alternative Investors. The three executives are building out a private equity capability at BlackRock, said Bobbie Collins, a firm spokeswoman. “It’s too early to comment on what those capabilities will be or on any fundraisings that will take place,” Collins said.