If ever the time was right for a spin-off, this was it. CQS was refocusing on its core credit strategies, cutting back and considering a future beyond founder Michael Hintze. Plus, the equity hedge fund business it proposed separating and backing hadn’t actually started yet.

There’s just one problem with the plan: It seems that CQS, battered by pandemic losses, can’t really afford it anymore.

CQS was to take an equity stake in the business -- Landseer Asset Management -- and allocate some capital to it. But Hintze’s firm and Landseer, led by former CQS head of equities Paul Graham, have now abandoned the plan…. Landseer instead went ahead alone and started an equities long-short hedge fund in October managed by Andrew Billett, the people said

Billionaire Hedge Fund Hintze’s Deal With Spinoff Team Falls Apart [Bloomberg]