Hoyts Corporation Holdings (NZ) has received a green light from New Zealand's competition watchdog to buy Berkeley cinemas in Auckland.

The Commerce Commission has cleared Hoyts to acquire the Berkeley film exhibition business from Everard Entertainment.

Hoyts operates seven cinema complexes in New Zealand, of which two – one at Wairau Park and the other at Sylvia Park – are in Auckland.

Berkeley operates four cinema complexes in greater Auckland, one each at Mission Bay, Botany Downs, Takapuna and Whangaparaoa.

Australia’s Hoyts Corporation is beefing up its New Zealand cinema business with the purchase of Barrie Everard’s Berkeley Cinema Group.

The Auckland-based company is the fourth largest cinema circuit in this country and the second largest in Auckland, with 21 screens in four complexes at Botany Downs, Mission Bay, Takapuna and Hibiscus Coast.

The third-largest is the US-owned Reading, which has large complexes in Wellington and Christchurch and seven other locations. It was previously a co-owner with Mr Everard of Botany Downs.