Trehan sells 10% stake in Escorts for Rs 70 cr

NEW DELHI: Following days of bitter battle with the promoters of Escorts Heart Institute, noted cardiologist Naresh Trehan joined Apollo Hospitals after quitting as Executive Director of EHIRC, where he is understood to have sold his 10 per cent stake for an estimated Rs 70 crore.

Trehan announced his decision to join Apollo in a sudden development on Wednesday, after disengaging himself from EHIRC, where he was reinstated as the ED last week following an out-of-court settlement with the heart institute's promoters, the Fortis group.

Trehan is understood to have sold his 10 per cent equity to people close to the promoters of Ranbaxy, a pharma major controlled by Malvinder Singh, brother of Shivinder Singh who owns the majority stake in EHIRC.

While Trehan declined to comment on the issue, citing a confidentiality agreement with the Fortis management, Shivinder and his associates also did not give any details on the financial parting.

However, sources close to the development said that Trehan's sale of stake was part of the out-of-court settlement reached with the EHIRC management.

Earlier on Wednesday, Fortis had said in a statement that it had not bought any stake from Trehan.