California-based animal-free dairy and ingredient producer Perfect Day completed the acquisition of India’s Sterling Biotech Limited—the sixth largest gelatin manufacturer in the world—at a bankruptcy auction for a value of 638 crore rupees (~USD 78 million). The company also received regulatory approval from India’s Food Safety and Standards Authority, enabling access to a new market.

Perfect Day will continue to serve Sterling’s existing customers while retaining all employees. According to the company, Sterling’s technology and infrastructure, which includes advanced manufacturing assets with fermentation capabilities, will enable it to double its production capacity.

The expanded capacity will allow Perfect Day to produce and sell more of its products while opening up opportunities to tap into the animal-free gelatin market with clients already in line to aid with pilot tests and create demand.

Despite receiving regulatory approval, the company expects it will take time for its precision-fermented proteins to enter the Indian CPG space due to product development timelines and plans on exporting products developed in India to other markets in the interim.

Analyst QuickTake: Perfect Day already had its sights on the Asian market before this acquisition. The company has launched products made with its precision-fermented proteins in Hong Kong and most recently in Singapore . With India being the largest consumer of cow’s milk in the world along with Perfect Day’s focus on Asia, this acquisition puts the company in a unique position both strategically and logistically.