Exactech Inc (EXAC) retained Hawk Associates in July 1996, to provide investor relations services. The company had gone public with an IPO on Nasdaq earlier that year. Management needed to engage a professional IR firm.

The stock at that time was trading at $2.81 (on a pre-split basis). At year-end, the company reported $13.8 million in sales and net income of $1.5 million. The Exactech market cap was approximately $13.6 million.

In that first year, Hawk was a pioneer in providing website based information to investors and in fact was already providing a Sarbanes-Oxley compliant website for investors well before anyone had ever heard of either of those legislators. This, of course, was in addition to providing basic IR functionality such as press release drafting and management, the use of conference calls with investors and management and development of relationships with the financial community with emphasis on sell side analysts.

During the past 12 years Hawk has pioneered a number of information strategies including the use of opt-in email alerts and the Hawk Exactech investment profile, which has been updated on a regular basis and downloaded tens of thousands of times from the Hawk website.

Hawk also has provided extensive strategic services to Exactech while helping the company build close relationships with sell side analysts, buy side analysts, institutional funds and hedge fund managers including organizing institutional road shows and meetings with analysts and fund managers at industry conferences. Since 1997, Exactech has continuously enjoyed professional sell side coverage through relationships largely initiated and fostered by Hawk.

During one crisis when Exactech was forced to sue a former business partner, Hawk provided media training for senior management to prepare for the inevitable media exposure that the lawsuit triggered.

In 2003, Hawk was instrumental in suggesting to the company that the company split its stock on a 2-1 basis. Within a year of the split, Exactech’s market cap virtually doubled.

Hawk has continued to be a close trusted advisor to senior management and has participated in various senior management strategic planning sessions.

In the spring of 2008, the stock traded as high as $27, producing a market cap of over $300 million.