Spend some time around sailors or classic car restorers. They'll really freak you out.
I used a gendered pronoun in the second sentence to create mystery in the lede (if didn't already know it was about a company being sold when you hit the post, you don't mind out until further down) and go back to "it" afterward.
"She's my baby" is a common expression for anything that you value highly - I could totally see someone referring to their company with female pronouns. Feels very natural to my ear.
I upvoted GP because I dislike seeing them used to refer to corporations.