Hotel Lotte is reportedly set to file its application for listing on the nation’s main stock bourse early next week, according to sources Friday.

They noted that the hotel unit of South Korean retail giant Lotte Group will submit its application to the Korea Exchange on Monday for a preliminary regulatory review of its initial public offering, which will mark the company’s debut on the stock market as early as March.

The move was expected as Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin has been pushing for listing Hotel Lotte on the Seoul bourse for months, as part of his reform plans to bring transparency to the governance structure of the group.

An official at Lotte Group, however, denied the report, saying the date has not yet been fixed. He added that the application would be submitted as soon as possible.

The listing plan came amid concerns that its market value would be lower than expected.

The group expects the hotel chain to have a market capitalization of around 10 trillion won ($8.46 billion) when it goes public.

But market watchers said Lotte Hotel’s recent loss of the operational license for a duty-free store at Lotte World Tower in southeastern Seoul could further drive down its valuation.

Despite a negative outlook, they said the company would push for the stock listing as planned.

The plan was released amid a bitter family fight over control of the retail business-focused conglomerate operating businesses both in Korea and Japan.

At a parliamentary hearing in September, the chairman said the plan was approved by his father, Shin Kyuk-ho, with whom he had an ugly succession battle in August.

In a bitter fraternal competition, Shin Dong-bin ousted his elder brother Shin Dong-joo and won control over the nation’s fifth-largest conglomerate.

After a shareholders meeting, Dong-joo was stripped off the company’s registered executive position -- leaving him with no foothold in Lotte Group Korea and Japan apart from the shares he holds.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)