While some may think it’s a challenging time to tap the public markets, that’s exactly what Hyatt Hotels Corp. plans to do. The Chicago-based, Pritzker family-controlled hotel brand company wants to raise up to $1.15 billion in an initial public offering.

In a filing with the SEC yesterday, the firm declined to specify how many shares it will offer, the price range for the shares or when it will launch the IPO. According to press reports, Hyatt’s filing is the third-largest public offering in the current pipeline.

Again without offering specifics, Hyatt says it plans to use the money raised for “general corporate purposes” and “to acquire or invest in new properties or other businesses that complement” its business. The company owns, operates, manages or franchises 413 hotel properties under various Hyatt brand names. In July, the company changed its name from Global Hyatt to Hyatt Hotels Corp.

According to the filing, Hyatt recorded a first-half loss of $36 million on revenues of $1.6 billion. For all of 2008, the company had $168 million in profits on revenues of $3.8 billion.

The filing, and particularly its timing, raises a number of interesting questions:

• Will Hyatt be able to raise as much money as it hopes from the initial offering?

• As a public company, will it be able to demonstrate the constant and dramatic growth demanded by the public markets?

• Once Hyatt builds its war chest, what hotel companies and brands may interest it as possible acquisition candidates?