The Portland Phoenix has been acquired by Portland News Club LLC, which publishes the free daily Portland Sun.

After the closure of the Phoenix publications in Boston and Providence, the Maine alt-weekly was the last one remaining within the Boston-based Phoenix Media/Communications Group.

The sale comes one week ahead of the launch of a rival alt-weekly:

Meanwhile, the alt-weekly’s former editor, Nick Schroeder, and some other former staff members have migrated to Dig Portland, a new alt-weekly that is being launched next week by a Boston publisher. The new publication was announced last month as the Portland Phoenix‘s previous owners were seeking a buyer … [Portland Phoenix editor Dan] MacLeod told the Bangor Daily News on Wednesday that competition is healthy and that Dig Portland and The Portland Phoenix will be pushed to produce solid journalism.