Mumbai: Days after ending a bitter battle with the promoters of Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre, noted cardiologist Naresh Trehan has sold his 10 per cent stake in Escorts for about Rs70 crore.

Trehan, who was reinstated as ED of EHIRC last week, following an out-of-court settlement with the hospital''s promoters the Fortis group, also quit as executive director of EHIRC to join rival Apollo Hospitals.

Trehan announced his decision to join Apollo in a sudden development on Wednesday, after disengaging himself from EHIRC, where he was.

Ranbaxy promoter group is understood to have picked up the 10 per cent stake of Naresh Trehan. Pharma major Ranbaxy is controlled by Malvinder Singh, brother of Shivinder Mohan Singh who owns the majority stake in EHIRC.

Both Trehan and the Fortis management declined to comment on the issue citing a confidentiality agreement. They also did not give any details on the financial parting.

Sources close to the development, however, said the sale was part of the out-of-court settlement reached between Trehan and the EHIRC management.

In a communication to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Fortis Healthcare said Naresh Trehan has resigned from the services of EHIRCL and that the resignation shall be effective from June 1, 2007.

Dr Trehan will start work at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals from 4 June .

"We would like to welcome Dr Trehan to join us in serving the national interest of better cardiac care," said Dr Pratap C. Reddy, founder and chairman of the Apollo Hospitals Group, at a news conference in Delhi.

When asked if Apollo could partner him in his Rs100-crore project, Dr Trehan said: "There is no hidden agenda in this association. I don''t know about the future but this is certainly an evolving association."

Shivinder Mohan Singh initially said that he was unaware of any new developments.

Later, in a rushed teleconference arranged an hour before Apollo Hospitals''s scheduled announcement, Mr Daljit Singh, president (strategy and organisational development), admitted that the development had taken Fortis by surprise.