Racing car engine maker Mugen Co. said Friday it will hand over all of its operations, facilities and 150-person workforce to M-TEC.

M-TEC is a firm that will be set up Oct. 1 by a relative of Soichiro Honda, the late founder of Honda Motor Co.

The location of M-TEC will remain the same as that of Mugen, it said. Mugen President Hirotoshi Honda and former auditor Norio Hirokawa were indicted in July on charges of evading 1 billion yen in corporate tax.

The transfer of Mugen's assets and workforce to M-TEC will take place around Jan. 1. But M-TEC will continue to use the Mugen brand, which is popular among race car buffs, it said.

Shin Nagaosa, a Mugen board member, will become president of the new company, to be capitalized at 30 million yen.

According to the indictment, Honda, 61, conspired with Hirokawa, 60, to hide 2.83 billion yen in Mugen's income by moving the money to a subsidiary under the guise of payments from machine-leasing and other transactions in the three years to October 2000 to evade taxes.