An automotive dealership financing company headquartered in Carmel has been acquired by an Atlanta competitor and expects to double its work force over the next year.

Atlanta-based Manheim Inc. acquired locally based Dealer Services Corp. in March and combined it with its financial services division, Manheim Automotive Financial Services. The combined unit is now called NextGear Capital, the company announced Friday.

NextGear will be headquartered in Carmel and will begin moving next month from City Center Drive to an office about a mile south once occupied by CNO Financial Group predecessor Conseco Inc.

The merged company will more than double its office space, to 98,000 square feet, giving it enough room to accommodate growth, NextGear President Brian Geitner said.

NextGear now has 225 employees in Carmel and expects to grow to 450 sometime next year through relocations from Atlanta and new hires, he said. Most of the jobs are in customer service and administrative positions.

The company provides automotive financing options for more than 17,000 dealers and 1,000 auctions in the United States and Canada.

Dealer Services Corp. was founded in 2005.