SARASOTA, Fla. — CarBiz announced this week that it has successfully restructured its debt with a credit facility from Dealer Services Corp. of Indiana.

DSC (of Indiana) purchased CarBiz's prior credit facility from SWC Services LLC, which is in bankruptcy in Illinois, the company said. In connection with the new credit facility, DSC has forgiven approximately $30 million of the debt owed to SWC.

CarBiz said it became the fourth largest buy-here, pay-here business in the U.S. following two major acquisitions in 2007.

The acquisitions resulted in CarBiz owning and operating 26 BHPH dealerships in nine states including Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Iowa, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Ohio and Texas.

These acquisitions were funded through a credit facility from SWC, which filed for bankruptcy on October 20, 2008.

Chief executive officer of CarBiz Carl Ritter said, "Unfortunate circumstances have made it impossible for our prior lender to continue its participation in our growth. With the help of DSC, CarBiz has been able to overcome this setback and significantly improve its balance sheet. We believe that we are well positioned for an exciting 2009."  

John Fuller, CEO of DSC of Indiana, said "DSC is excited about working with and funding CarBiz. Their long established training division will be very beneficial to the launch of our lease-here, pay-here product and provide an excellent testing ground to develop the product for future expansion. 

"I have done business with Carl Ritter and his team in the past and I'm delighted to have the opportunity to work with them again," he added.