Facebook announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Parse, a cloud-based platform for cross-platform apps. It lets developers create create rich social apps integrated with Facebook across platforms like iOS, Android, HTML5 , etc.

The two companies have already been working closely together. Parse is one of Facebook’s technology partners. Parse Social enables developers to allow users to use Login with Facebook and save and associate their information, without having to set up their own backend.

Parse Social uses Facebook’s native SDKs for iOS, Android, Windows 8 and JavaScript, so developers can add Facebook functionality a few lines of code.

“By making Parse a part of Facebook Platform, we want to enable developers to rapidly build apps that span mobile platforms and devices,” says Facebook’s Douglas Purdy. “Parse makes this possible by allowing developers to work with native objects that provide backend services for data storage, notifications, user management, and more. This removes the need to manage servers and a complex infrastructure, so you can simply focus on building great user experiences.”

“[We] have seen first-hand how important their products and community are to developers,” says Purdy. “We don’t intend to change this. We will continue offering their products and services, and we’re excited to expand what Facebook and Parse can provide together.”

In a blog post, Parse CEO Ilya Sukhar said he expects the transaction to close soon. Terms were not disclosed. TechCrunch says it’s “heard” the deal is worth $85 million.