Metro Newspapers has acquired the weekly Good Times in Santa Cruz along with three daily newspapers: the Gilroy Dispatch, Hollister Free Lance and Morgan Hills Times.

Dan Pulcrano, CEO and executive editor of Metro Newspapers, says the company will merge its competing paper, Santa Cruz Weekly under the Good Times title. The company also owns AAN member publications in San Jose (Metro Silicon Valley) and Santa Rosa (North Bay Bohemian).

Greg Baumann of the Silicon Valley Business Journal reports:

The growth opportunities in weekly news publications are twofold, said Ken Doctor, a media analyst with Newsonomics. Alternative weeklies’ best shot at additional revenue lies in their digital operations. For community weeklies, print special sections can bring more sales. Either way, the industry is mature and consolidation — and any efficiencies that can be wrung out of them — is the best way to improve margins.

“It’s an interesting move for us because no one buys anything but distressed properties now,” Pulcrano said. “This isn’t a distress situation. It isn’t a fire sale. It was a solid transaction for both parties.”