Why? That's the obvious question still dogging the Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd (GACL) sellout to Holcim. But obvious questions have this bad habit of often not having any clear answers. Narottam Sekhsaria, who founded the company 22 years ago and was its Chairman and Managing Director till recently, is abroad with his son Pulkit and, so, could not be contacted for an answer. Sekhsaria's nephew, Harsh Neotia, (the two families co-promoted the company) refuses to get drawn into this discussion. "I really don't have an answer to that question," he says. The next question looks more promising: what will the two families do next?

Well, the short answer to that is: nothing; as families, that is. A close friend of Sekhsaria, who hasn't been keeping well, says: "He'll probably take a break and then decide on his next course of action. A lot, of course, will depend on his health." His relatives in Kolkata indicate that his daughter, Padmini Somani, will look after his latest passion, the Narottam Sekhsaria Foundation, which runs the Narottam Sekhsaria Scholarship Programme for students looking to pursue their education either in India or abroad. Meanwhile, he will remain on the GACL board as non-executive vice chairman. And Pulkit, says a close friend, will run his family's cotton and trading business, while he figures out what to do with his family's share of the Rs 2,142-crore sale proceeds. The consensus seems to be that the Sekhsaria family will stay away from active management of listed or industrial companies and focus on wealth management a la the Wallenbergs of Sweden and some branches of the Walton, Ford, Disney and Rockefeller clans. The two families, meanwhile, will retain a 9 per cent stake in GACL that is worth about Rs 1,400 crore.

The Neotias, on the other hand, have their plates full. Says Harsh, Chairman of the newly floated Ambuja Realty Development Ltd and formerly Managing Director of Ambuja Cements Eastern (which is now in the Holcim fold): "It has only been a couple of months since we relinquished our posts (at GACL). We have been deeply engaged-emotionally and otherwise-in Gujarat Ambuja, and it will take some time to settle down and look beyond the company." Harsh's father, Vinod Kumar Neotia, and uncle, Suresh, will continue to manage the family's ancestral trading empire. The Rs 350-crore closely held RKBK Ltd distributes fertilisers in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and operates a number of petrol pumps in those states. But it's almost certain that the Neotias will look beyond GACL. "We cannot just go out and make plain-vanilla investments. We have plans in the real estate sector and related fields," says Harsh, who spearheaded his family's foray into the real estate, entertainment (Conclave) and hospitality (Ffort Radisson) sectors. "Our main focus thus far was on the cement business. I have entered the realty sector out of sheer passion. But now, we will consolidate and scale up these operations," he adds. For starters, he's stepping out of his home base in West Bengal and looking at large projects in Delhi and the rest of North India.

Can he, or Pulkit, found another GACL (or, at least, its equivalent in real estate or any other sector)? That's like asking a Rockefeller scion if he can found another Standard Oil. But these families have a track record that's second to none. That's why it will be prudent to keep them on the radar.