Anthropic and Hg Plan European AI Consultancy

Anthropic is planning to back a European AI consultancy with Hg, a London-based private equity firm, the Financial Times reported. The independent company would place AI engineers and consultants inside businesses to help them build and deploy AI. The report cites people familiar with the plans; Anthropic and Hg declined to comment to the FT.

The consultancy would help companies design AI-powered products and support projects already under way. It would also work with businesses owned by Hg. The venture is expected to launch by the end of 2026, with offices in London and Berlin, targeting software companies that sell to businesses and other white-collar industries. Anthropic would fund its share from its own balance sheet; Hg would invest through funds it manages, including the London-listed HgCapital Trust.

The investment would be Anthropic’s first in a standalone consultancy in Europe. The company has worked with Hg portfolio businesses since 2024 and partnered with other European private equity firms. Hg already employs around 150 AI specialists across its portfolio; one source told the FT the consultancy would operate alongside that team, not replace it.

Earlier this year, Anthropic established Ode, a US services company backed by Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman with $1.5 billion in planned investment. Goldman Sachs and Apollo Global were among its other investors. OpenAI launched the OpenAI Deployment Company in May with TPG, Advent, Bain Capital and Brookfield. Such ventures put AI developers in more direct competition with IT consultancies including Accenture and the Big Four accounting firms: Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC, for which technology adoption advice is already a major revenue source, the FT noted. The European plan would give Anthropic another revenue route as it spends heavily on data centres ahead of a planned stock market listing; the FT reported last week that revenue growth slowed in the third quarter.

Anthropic is planning to back a European AI consultancy with Hg, a London-based private equity firm, the Financial Times reported. The independent company would place AI engineers and consultants inside businesses to help them build and deploy AI. The report cites people familiar with the plans; Anthropic and Hg declined to comment to the FT.

The consultancy would help companies design AI-powered products and support projects already under way. It would also work with businesses owned by Hg. The venture is expected to launch by the end of 2026, with offices in London and Berlin, targeting software companies that sell to businesses and other white-collar industries. Anthropic would fund its share from its own balance sheet; Hg would invest through funds it manages, including the London-listed HgCapital Trust.

The investment would be Anthropic’s first in a standalone consultancy in Europe. The company has worked with Hg portfolio businesses since 2024 and partnered with other European private equity firms. Hg already employs around 150 AI specialists across its portfolio; one source told the FT the consultancy would operate alongside that team, not replace it.

Earlier this year, Anthropic established Ode, a US services company backed by Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman with $1.5 billion in planned investment. Goldman Sachs and Apollo Global were among its other investors. OpenAI launched the OpenAI Deployment Company in May with TPG, Advent, Bain Capital and Brookfield. Such ventures put AI developers in more direct competition with IT consultancies including Accenture and the Big Four accounting firms: Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC, for which technology adoption advice is already a major revenue source, the FT noted. The European plan would give Anthropic another revenue route as it spends heavily on data centres ahead of a planned stock market listing; the FT reported last week that revenue growth slowed in the third quarter.