Harbert Management taps new co-head for European Real Estate

Alternative asset manager Harbert Management Corporation (HMC) has announced new leadership for its European Real Estate (HERE) division.

Florent Danset and David King

Florent Danset, who previously worked at Blackstone and Partners Group and co-founded Alte, has been appointed as senior managing director and co-head of European Real Estate. He will share this leadership role with David King, a veteran of HMC for nearly 18 years.
Danset's primary responsibilities will include capital formation and developing new products, while King will continue to oversee divestments and asset management for current HERE investments. Together, they will work on strategically deploying capital into new opportunities.
The existing country heads, Roque Rotaeche (Spain) and Eric Desautel (France), both with 18 years at HMC, will remain in their positions and support Danset and King.
Travis Pritchett, president of Harbert Management Corporation, said: “Florent brings the strategic insight gained from his experience at global institutional asset managers, combined with an entrepreneurial mindset and a hands-on leadership style. European real estate remains a key pillar within our broader real assets platform.  Our focus on creating value at the asset level, in markets and sectors supported by clear structural tailwinds gives us the ability to perform consistently through all phases of the market cycle.
Florent Danset, senior managing director and co-head of European Real Estate at Harbert Management Corporation, commented: “It is a privilege to join a leading mid-market real estate investor with more than two decades of cycle-tested performance and deep local roots in Europe. HMC’s strong culture, reflected in the tenure and cohesion of its European leadership, was a major draw. Its differentiated, disciplined investment approach, within a global institutional platform, made the opportunity particularly compelling. I look forward to building on the team’s track record and contributing to the next phase of growth for HMC’s European Real Estate platform.”
David King, senior managing director and co-head of European Real Estate at Harbert Management Corporation, added: “We believe the current environment presents dislocation opportunities that will make this an exceptional vintage for our platform. The upcoming cycle plays directly to our strengths in granular market understanding, diligent asset selection, and active asset management. With Florent’s insight and experience complementing our existing capabilities, we will continue to apply the same disciplined approach to investing and value creation that defines HMC’s success.”
Since its inception in 2002, Harbert European Real Estate (HERE) has completed approximately €5.9 bn in real estate transactions. In the past two years alone, HERE has invested significantly, deploying €485 mln in residential properties and €184 mln in industrial assets across the UK, Spain, and France. The company has also been active in selling properties, notably the recent sale of a 111,484 m2 logistics facility in France to Amazon.