Senco Gold, a private jewellery retail chain, is likely to invest Rs 350 crore to expand its retail foot print, reported a news daily.

The proposed expansion is likely to be funded through Rs 100 crore private equity investment, debt and some of the company’s own resources. The company intends to maintain its current debt-equity ratio at 2:1 added the report.

Under the expansion plan, the company is likely to add around 42 outlets across India in the span of next three years. The company is expected to go the franchise route for the expansion as half of its current 58 retail outlets are owned by the company while the rest are owned by franchise assets. Senco is keen to increase its presence in Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra and the National Capital Region. Also, it intends to foray into the new markets such as Lucknow, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Raipur. The first store in Lucknow is slated to come up in October.

Also, in the pipeline is PE funding deal for a minority stake which the company is likely to finalise before December 2014. It plans to allow the fund to exit after three years. The company may go the IPO way to make way for the exit of the fund in 2018-19.