A West Virginia newspaper group has an agreement in principle to buy The Northern Virginia Daily.

The Strasburg-based newspaper has been owned by the E. Earl Keister family for nearly 80 years.

Editor John F. Horan Jr. of the Northern Virginia Daily (http://bit.ly/xdcIVn) says Wheeling, W.Va.-based Ogden Newspapers expects to close on the sale by the end of February.

Terms of the sale weren't disclosed. The purchase also includes the Northern Virginia Daily's website, www.nvdaily.com.

Ogden President and CEO Robert M. Nutting told the newspaper's staff the company is reviewing the Northern Virginia Daily's operations. He expects printing operations to eventually move to Ogden's press in Martinsburg, W.Va.

With the purchase, Ogden Newspapers will operate 40 daily newspapers in 12 states, including West Virginia.