SARASOTA, Fla. — CarBiz announced that it has received a dealer license for the state of Iowa.

With this license obtained, CarBiz said it has begun full operations at two Iowa locations in Sioux City and Council Bluffs.

The company now claims it is the fourth largest buy-here, pay-here business in the U.S. thanks to an acquisition last month.

The deal included 26 dealerships in seven Midwestern states, including Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Iowa, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Ohio. The two remaining states to receive a dealer license are Oklahoma and Nebraska.

In other news, the company said it has entered into an agreement with Magnolia Automobile Consultants, of Madison, Miss., to provide software for MAC's dealer network.

CarBiz's said its software package provides a complete management system to help individual car dealers' business through efficient inventory control, improved sales documentation and collections.

The agreement will give MAC the right to sell CarBiz's software to MAC's 1,300 dealers in Mississippi.

According to officials, this will nearly double the number of dealerships having access to CarBiz's software package from its existing base of nearly 1,500. Currently, software accounts for approximately 10 percent of CarBiz's revenue, the company noted.

B.J. Hall, founder of Magnolia Automobile Consultants, said, "CarBiz is a very professional, outstanding company with whom we look forward to having a successful business relationship for many years to come."

Meanwhile, Carl Ritter, CarBiz's chief executive officer, added, "We're certainly happy with this relationship because it fits nicely with our expansion plans. Besides software, our growth strategy also includes additional product and service offerings in the alternative financial services market."