If Hinkley was a public company, it could well have passed into the history books in this economic cycle.

The reality is that the problem is that it just isn't making enough money to support its size -- irrespective of whether the newest investors (that succeeded the Hinckley family) would prefer to get some return on their investment or not.

Sabre, for those that never knew or forgot, was founded by Roger Hewson in 1970. In the late '80's or early '90's his bank cut his credit line. Not because they weren't selling boats or managing the company well -- rather because they were just cutting everyone's credit lines unless you had cash (i.e., you didn't need to borrow the money). Roger lost the company to what has become the current private investors who have run the firm since then. The choice would have been to have Sabre (and it's workers) continue or not. Continue has been better for them, their workers, and the people that now enjoy they products over the last two decades or so.

There are leveraged buy-outs that are examples of obscene execesses and non-productive financial engineering to simply make money at the expense of productive companies and their employees -- read "Barbarians at the Gates" about the RJR Nabisco story.