Viceroy Hotels Shares Rise as Kamath Brothers Acquire 6.72% Stake

Zerodha founders Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath have acquired a 6.72% stake in Viceroy Hotels, bringing the brothers into the shareholder base of a hospitality company that is rebuilding itself after insolvency and pursuing a new phase of expansion. The investment was made through two entities, Kamath Associates and Nksquared, according to Viceroy Hotels’ latest shareholding disclosures.

Shares of Viceroy Hotels rose after the disclosure became public, with the stock gaining as much as 2.18% to ₹128.80 on October 6. The market reaction is notable because the investment comes at a critical point for Viceroy: the company has completed a ₹105.83 crore rights issue, is integrating newly acquired hospitality assets and is trying to improve operating performance after its 2023 insolvency-resolution process.

Key takeaways

• Nithin and Nikhil Kamath have acquired a combined 6.72% stake in Viceroy Hotels.
• The investment was made through Kamath Associates and Nksquared.
• Viceroy emerged from a corporate insolvency process after creditors were owed more than ₹1,150 crore.
• The company completed a rights issue that raised about ₹105.83 crore at ₹115 per share.
• Viceroy is expanding beyond its existing Hyderabad hotel portfolio through the acquisition of SLN Terminus Hotels and Resorts.
• Q1 FY27 revenue from operations rose 77% year over year to ₹44.9 crore, while EBITDA increased 144% to ₹11.8 crore.
• The Kamath investment does not by itself guarantee future performance; the larger question is whether Viceroy can convert its operational recovery into sustainable returns.

Why the Kamath investment matters

The significance of the transaction goes beyond the 6.72% ownership figure.

Nithin and Nikhil Kamath are best known as the founders of Zerodha, India’s largest retail-focused stockbroking platform. Their investment in Viceroy Hotels puts a well-known entrepreneurial investment family into a company that is still in the early stages of a post-insolvency rebuilding cycle.

That distinction is important. Viceroy is not simply a conventional hotel company receiving a new financial investor. It has gone through a restructuring process, changed management, raised fresh capital and is now attempting to build a larger hospitality portfolio.

The Kamath investment therefore arrives at a point when investors are being asked to assess whether Viceroy’s recovery can become a longer-term growth story.

The latest disclosure shows that the brothers collectively hold 6.72% through their investment vehicles. Based on Viceroy’s post-rights-issue equity capital of 7.68 crore shares, the stake represents roughly 51.6 lakh shares.

At the October 6 price of ₹128.80, that percentage would correspond to a market value of roughly ₹66.5 crore. This is only an indicative current market value, however, and should not be interpreted as the amount the Kamath brothers paid for the shares.

Viceroy’s difficult history

Viceroy Hotels’ current story cannot be understood without its earlier financial problems.

The company had entered the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process after accumulating substantial debt under its previous promoter. Creditors were owed more than ₹1,150 crore, and the company faced the possibility of liquidation.

Its turnaround began when the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal approved a resolution plan submitted by Anirudh Agro Farms in October 2023.

Fresh capital was subsequently brought into the business through Loko Hospitality, a subsidiary involved in the restructuring. Once the resolution plan was implemented, Viceroy’s shares resumed trading on both the NSE and BSE in April 2024.

That created a very different starting point for the company.

Rather than trying to repair the old business structure, the post-resolution Viceroy has been attempting to establish a cleaner balance sheet, renovate existing properties, expand its hotel portfolio and increase operating profitability.

The Kamath investment comes against this backdrop.

Operations are already showing improvement

One of the strongest arguments behind Viceroy’s recovery story is the improvement visible in its operating numbers.

For the quarter ended June 30, 2026, Viceroy Hotels reported revenue from operations of ₹44.9 crore, representing a 77% year-over-year increase.

EBITDA reached ₹11.8 crore, up 144% from approximately ₹4.8 crore in the year-ago period. The EBITDA margin consequently improved to 26.3%, compared with about 19% a year earlier.

The company also moved into profit at the net level. Profit after tax stood at about ₹1.4 crore in Q1 FY27, compared with a loss of roughly ₹3 crore in Q1 FY26.

These numbers suggest that the turnaround is not based solely on asset acquisitions or financial restructuring. The underlying hotel operations have also improved.

Viceroy Hotels Q1 FY27 snapshot

Metric	Q1 FY27	Year-on-year change
Revenue from operations	₹44.9 crore	+77%
EBITDA	₹11.8 crore	+144%
EBITDA margin	26.3%	Up from 19%
Profit after tax	₹1.4 crore	Turned profitable
Combined hotel occupancy	76.25%	Up from 53.65%
Combined RevPAR	₹4,657	+24.85%

RevPAR, or revenue per available room, is an important hotel-industry measure because it combines room rates with occupancy. Viceroy’s combined RevPAR rose 24.85% year over year, suggesting that the improvement was not simply a result of adding more rooms.

The company has also been renovating its properties to support higher room rates and better occupancy.

Renovation is central to the turnaround

Viceroy’s strategy involves improving the economics of its existing assets before expanding aggressively.

Its Courtyard property has undergone a renovation programme, with the company adding 56 rooms as part of the first phase. Management has indicated that the renovated property could generate more than ₹50 crore of annual revenue, compared with roughly ₹30 crore before renovation.

The second phase involves the Marriott property, including 168 rooms and the convention centre. The company expects the renovation programme to be completed around December FY27.

This strategy matters because hotel expansion can create significant capital requirements. Improving the productivity of existing properties can potentially generate higher cash flows without requiring the company to build an entirely new hotel for every increment in revenue.

Viceroy is therefore trying to combine asset improvement with selective acquisitions.

The ₹105 crore rights issue strengthens the balance sheet

Viceroy recently completed a rights issue that raised ₹105.83 crore.

The company allotted 92,03,008 fully paid-up equity shares at ₹115 each. Following the allotment, its paid-up equity capital increased from 6.76 crore shares to approximately 7.68 crore shares.

The rights issue was also important from a regulatory perspective because Viceroy’s promoter holding had risen substantially following the insolvency-resolution process. The fundraising was structured in a way that also helped address the requirement to increase public shareholding.

This means the capital raise was not simply about funding growth.

It also helped reshape the company’s ownership structure after the resolution process.

The Kamath brothers’ 6.72% holding now sits within this broader post-rights-issue shareholder structure.

Viceroy is moving beyond its existing hotels

The company currently operates Marriott and Courtyard by Marriott properties in Hyderabad.

But management’s ambition is larger than maintaining these assets.

In December 2025, shareholders approved the acquisition of SLN Terminus Hotels and Resorts for ₹206 crore. The property operates Marriott-branded executive apartments and gives Viceroy another hospitality asset around which it can build its portfolio.

The company is also evaluating a greenfield Courtyard project in Hyderabad’s Madhapur area. Management has indicated a potential project cost of approximately ₹120–130 crore for a property with around 180–200 keys, subject to the required approvals.

This creates a two-track growth strategy: improve the performance of existing assets while adding new properties through acquisitions and development.

Debt remains an important risk

The recovery story should not be confused with a debt-free balance sheet.

Viceroy’s consolidated debt was around ₹259 crore at the end of June 2026, with net debt of approximately ₹220 crore. Monthly debt repayments were running at around ₹3.25 crore, implying an annual repayment run rate of roughly ₹39–40 crore.

That makes cash generation particularly important.

Hotel businesses can produce strong operating cash flow when occupancy and room rates are favourable, but they also require significant capital for renovations, maintenance and expansion. Viceroy therefore needs its operating recovery to continue while keeping financing costs and leverage under control.

The company’s Q1 finance cost was around ₹5.4 crore, substantially higher than the year-ago period.

This is one reason the rights issue and the company’s plans for debt reduction are important to the investment thesis.

What the Kamath investment does — and does not — mean

The easiest interpretation of the transaction would be that the Kamath brothers are expressing confidence in Viceroy Hotels.

That may be a reasonable inference, but investors should avoid treating the stake purchase as a guarantee about the company’s future.

A 6.72% holding is meaningful enough to make the investment strategically relevant, but the disclosure does not provide the Kamath brothers’ investment thesis or future plans for the company.

Their investment could reflect a view on the recovery of India’s hospitality sector, the value of Viceroy’s underlying properties, the company’s post-insolvency restructuring or the potential upside from portfolio expansion.

Without a statement from the investors explaining their rationale, those possibilities remain interpretations rather than confirmed facts.

What can be established is that the investment occurred while Viceroy was showing improving operating metrics and executing a broader capital and expansion plan.

Why the hotel sector backdrop matters

The investment also comes during a period in which hotel operators are benefiting from sustained demand for business and leisure travel in India.

For a company such as Viceroy, the opportunity is not merely to increase the number of rooms. The larger opportunity is to improve revenue per room, increase occupancy, add higher-margin ancillary revenues and use established hospitality brands to improve pricing power.

Viceroy’s own operating data points in this direction.

Its combined occupancy reached 76.25% in Q1 FY27, while the company’s Marriott Executive Apartments property reported occupancy of 94%. The latter also recorded an average daily rate of ₹13,342.

These numbers indicate that different parts of the portfolio can support very different economics.

The challenge is to replicate the strongest operating characteristics across a larger asset base without allowing debt and capital expenditure to rise faster than earnings.

The next phase will test execution

The Kamath investment gives Viceroy additional visibility in the market, but execution will determine whether the company’s turnaround becomes sustainable.

Three areas deserve particular attention.

First is the completion of the renovation programme. The renovated properties need to generate the higher room rates and revenue that management expects.

Second is balance-sheet management. The company has to use operating cash generation and capital efficiently while controlling interest costs.

Third is expansion discipline. The acquisition of SLN Terminus and the potential Madhapur development can increase Viceroy’s scale, but they also increase the company’s capital requirements.

The company will therefore have to demonstrate that each new asset improves consolidated returns rather than simply increasing revenue and debt.

What investors should watch next

The next few quarters should provide a clearer picture of whether Viceroy can sustain its recent improvement.

Investors will likely focus on occupancy, average daily rates, RevPAR, EBITDA margins, debt reduction and the performance of the newly integrated SLN Terminus asset.

The completion of the Marriott renovation will also be important. If the company can increase room rates and occupancy after the renovation while keeping costs under control, its operating leverage could become more visible.

The proposed Madhapur project is another longer-term catalyst, but it should be viewed separately from the immediate turnaround because construction and approvals introduce execution risk.

Frequently asked questions

What stake did Nithin and Nikhil Kamath acquire in Viceroy Hotels?

The Zerodha founders acquired a combined 6.72% stake in Viceroy Hotels through Kamath Associates and Nksquared during the September 2026 quarter.

Why is Viceroy Hotels important despite its troubled past?

The company has emerged from insolvency resolution, resumed stock trading in 2024, improved hotel operating performance and is now pursuing expansion through acquisitions and new projects.

How much did Viceroy Hotels raise through its latest rights issue?

Viceroy allotted 92,03,008 rights shares at ₹115 each, raising approximately ₹105.83 crore.

Is the Kamath investment a guarantee that Viceroy Hotels shares will rise?

No. The investment may indicate confidence, but it does not guarantee future stock performance. Viceroy still faces execution, debt, capital-allocation and hospitality-cycle risks.

The Bigger Picture

The more important story behind the Kamath brothers’ investment is the transformation of Viceroy Hotels from an insolvency-resolution case into a company attempting to build a larger hospitality platform. The 6.72% stake gives the company a high-profile new shareholder at precisely the point when its operational recovery is becoming visible in revenue, EBITDA, occupancy and RevPAR.

For investors, however, the transaction should be viewed as a signal rather than a conclusion. Viceroy now has to prove that its improved hotel performance can support debt reduction, renovation spending and expansion without recreating the financial pressures that contributed to its earlier distress.

Looking Ahead

Viceroy’s immediate focus will be on completing its ongoing renovation programme, integrating the SLN Terminus asset and converting stronger occupancy and room economics into sustained cash generation. The company’s ability to improve margins while managing debt will be critical to the next phase of its recovery.

The Kamath brothers’ 6.72% stake adds visibility to that turnaround story, but the real test will come through subsequent financial results. If Viceroy can demonstrate consistent operating growth and disciplined capital allocation, the investment could become an important marker in its post-insolvency transformation; if execution falters, the high-profile shareholder alone will not change the underlying economics.