THELEELA

** Shares of Leela Hotels owner Schloss Bangalore Ltd SCHL.NS climb 3.3% to 464.45 rupees

** Morgan Stanley ("overweight", PT: 562 rupees) says SCHL's RevPAR growth of 20% in Q1 is an indicator of luxury hotel segment's resilience

** Adds, SCHL posted industry-leading RevPAR in Q1

** J.P. Morgan ("overweight", PT: 510 rupees) says it likes SCHL's lead over peers in RevPAR growth, as well as stock's favourable valuations

** Co reported a lower Q1 profit on Tuesday, while rev grew 20%

** SCHL rose as much as 5.5% to record 474.40 rupees earlier in the session

** Stock up 14% since listing on June 2 and is ~7% above its IPO issue price

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru)

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Adds CEO comment in paragraph 5

July 21 (Reuters) - India's Brigade Hotel Ventures BRIA.NS set a price band of 85 to 90 rupees for its IPO, seeking a valuation of up to 34.19 billion rupees ($396.96 million), as it aims to expand its presence in the domestic hospitality sector.

The IPO of Brigade Hotel Ventures, the hospitality arm of Brigade Enterprises BRIG.NS, will open for bidding from July 24 to July 28.

The trimmed-down 7.6-billion-rupee ($88 million) IPO is a fresh issue, with the number of shares yet to be disclosed and proceeds earmarked for debt repayment and acquisitions.

Brigade Hotel Ventures first filed for an IPO in October with an offer size from 9 billion rupees.

CEO Ananda Natarajan told Reuters the reduction follows a 1.26 billion rupees pre-IPO funding round and a debt payment of about 5 million rupees made since June 24.

India's hospitality sector is on a strong upswing, fuelled by a rebound in travel, rising room rates, and steady demand from both leisure and business segments. With improving margins and growing investor interest, hotel firms are tapping public markets to fund growth.

The domestic hotel market has expanded nearly twelvefold between 2015 and 2025, with the luxury segment set to grow 74% over the next four years, driven by a robust project pipeline, according to consultancy Horwath HTL.

Brigade Hotel Ventures operates nine hotels across five Indian cities, with a total inventory of 1,604 keys. The properties are managed in partnership with global hospitality brands like Marriott, Accor and IHG, spanning the midscale to upper scale segments.

In February, the company announced plans to add five new hotels, including luxury properties, aiming to expand its portfolio to 2,560 keys by fiscal 2029.

The company competes with the newly listed Schloss Bangalore SCHL.NS, owner of luxury hotel chain "The Leela", among others.

($1 = 86.1300 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Manvi Pant, Yagnoseni Das and Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Janane Venkatraman)

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** Shares of Schloss Bangalore SCHL.NS, which owns and operates Indian luxury hotel brand "The Leela", up ~6%

** Stock last up 427 rupees vs IPO price of 435 rupees in June

** Brokerages Bank of America ("buy", TP 520 rupees) and Morgan Stanley ("overweight", TP 549 rupees) start coverage

** BofA sees steady growth path through property, brand expansion "in an under served market"

** Morgan Stanley justifies its rating on strong luxury demand, "iconic" assets, attractive valuations,

** Adds, demand outstripping supply will keep average room revenue higher for longer

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

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** Jefferies expects "healthy" Q1FY26 growth for Indian hotel firms, undeterred by some travel softness in May due to military conflicts between New Delhi and Islamabad

** Q1 "started on a strong note in April, extending Q4 performance and June is expected to see normalcy" - note

** Adds, hotel firms to continue to benefit from industry uptrends, including demand outstripping supply

** Taj-parent Indian Hotels Co Ltd IHTL.NS, ITC Hotels ITCT.NS and Chalet CHAL.NS are brokerage's top sectoral picks

** On the day, IHTL flat, ITCT edges up 0.2%. CHAL down 1%

** All three cos outperformed or were in-line with industry in terms of Y/Y Q4 revenue growth per available room, a key operating metric

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

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** Shares of India's Schloss Bangalore <SCHL.NS> opens about 7% lower at 406 rupees in market debut, last down 1.8%

** Owner of luxury hotel chain "The Leela" saw $409 million initial public offering oversubscribed nearly five times last week

** IPO issue price was at 435 rupees and at listing Schloss valued at $1.62 bln

** Broader Nifty 50 .NSEI is down 0.6%

(Reporting by Sethuraman NR in Bengaluru)

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