Metro Spirit, a free weekly newspaper in Augusta, GA, has
been purchased by Portico Publications of Charlottesville,
VA.

Founded in 1989 by David Vantrease, the paper
now has a circulation of about 23,000 each
Thursday.

Portico Publications operates a free weekly
in Charlottesville, C-Ville Weekly, and last year purchased a
second weekly, Free Times of Columbia, SC.

Also
included in the transaction were two monthly publications,
Sass, a women’s magazine, and Augusta Parent.

With
the exception of Vantrease, publisher of the paper since
its inception, all of the current staff of Metro Spirit will remain at
the paper, said Portico.

Terms of the transaction,
which was finalized on Thursday,
were not disclosed.

For more information, contact Steve Delgado, Portico
Publications, at 434-825-9429
or Steve.Delgado@metrospirit.com.