Facebook to buy mobile app builder Parse

Facebook did not disclose how much it paid for San Francisco-based Parse, but online reports valued the deal at $85 million.

"By making Parse a part of the Facebook platform, we want to enable developers to rapidly build apps that span mobile platforms and devices," Facebook said in a blog post.

Parse provides software developers tools for building applications and handles behind-the-scenes tasks such as data storage and servers to handle services for app users regardless of which mobile devices are involved.

"This removes the need to manage servers and a complex infrastructure, so you can simply focus on building great user experiences," Facebook said.

Parse was founded in June 2011 and was reportedly embarking on a new round of funding when Facebook stepped in to make the purchases.

"In just under two years, we've gone from a rough prototype to powering tens of thousands of apps for a very broad spectrum of customers," Parse chief executive Ilya Sukhar said in a blog post.

"Combining forces with a partner like Facebook makes a lot of sense."

Facebook has made a priority of following its more than one billion members onto smartphones and tablets, which are fast becoming the preferred gadgets for connecting with the leading social network.