HgCapital Trust linked to planned Anthropic consultancy in Europe - FINCHANNEL
HgCapital Trust would invest in a planned European AI consulting business backed by Hg and Anthropic, the Financial Times reported on October 23, citing people who know about the plans.
HgCapital Trust, which trades on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol HGT, gives public-market investors a way to invest in a group of private companies managed by Hg, according to its company profile. Hg manages the investments, while HgCapital Trust is the listed investment company.
The reported consulting business follows an announcement on September 21 that Hg was expanding its work with Anthropic. Hg said its Catalyst product incubator, which helps develop new products, and its wider AI team would work directly with the company that developed Claude. Their goal was to use AI agents across companies in Hg's investment portfolio.
The September announcement described more than 1,600 active AI projects across companies in Hg's portfolio. These projects were expected to have an impact of more than $260 million on budgeted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). This figure was an expected effect on budgets, not confirmed cash received or profit already earned.
Hg said its work with Anthropic built on a relationship that began in early 2024. The work included hackathons, staff training and putting AI tools to use inside companies in its portfolio. These companies usually have specialized business records and work processes, while Anthropic provides the AI tools.
The September announcement also mentioned Quantios, a software provider for businesses that offer trust and corporate services. With help from Catalyst, Quantios launched its first AI agent solution in March 2026. This happened before Hg sold its investment in Quantios to Vista Equity Partners.
Anthropic has also supported a separate business that helps companies use AI, working with investment firms. Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman and Goldman Sachs joined an announcement on May 4 about creating an independent company to help businesses use Claude in their main operations, as The FINANCIAL reported.
That earlier business was intended to help companies owned by investment firms and independent medium-sized businesses. Its work would include planning, building and maintaining AI systems for businesses.