By Hritam Mukherjee

BENGALURU, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Schloss Bangalore, owner

of Indian luxury hotel chain 'The Leela', has filed for a 50

billion rupee ($599 million) IPO on Friday, aiming to cash in on

the country's red-hot stock market.

Schloss is the latest in a string of Indian companies

rushing to go public in a stock market that is cruising

at record highs and is trailing only Wall Street's Nasdaq and

S&P 500 as the top-performing indexes this year.

As of mid-September, about 235 companies have gone

public in the country and raised more than $8.6 billion, which

exceeds the total amount raised last year, LSEG data showed.

Schloss is issuing fresh shares worth 30 billion rupees,

while shareholder Project Ballet Bangalore Holdings (DIFC), an

affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management ( BAM ), is selling

shares worth 20 billion rupees.

The company, which operates 12 luxury hotels across India

and is planning to add eight more through 2028, said it will use

proceeds from the fresh issue to repay debt.

Sustained travel demand and successful listings of hotel

firms, such as Samhi Hotels and Juniper Hotels

have inspired investor confidence in the sector.

"The rebound in tourism after the pandemic, especially

corporate travel, and an exuberant primary market gives hotel

firms an excellent opportunity to take their businesses public,"

Kranthi Bathini of WealthMills Securities said.

Schloss' consolidated annual losses narrowed to 21.3 million

rupees in fiscal-ended March 2024 from 616.8 million rupees, a

year ago.

Revenue per available room (RevPAR), a key metric for

hotel owners and operators, rose nearly 23% on-year to 9,592

rupees in the fiscal-ended March 2024.

India's hospitality market is estimated to grow to $31

billion by 2029, from $24.6 billion in 2024.

Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, JPMorgan and Citi are

among the issue's book running lead managers.

($1 = 83.4820 Indian rupees)