Navistar Racing the Clock

Harbinger is no stranger to fierce battles for control of companies it covets. The firm is currently embroiled in a bitter tug of war for control of Ryerson (RYI Quote), a Chicago-based steel distributor, and has aggressively pursued a slew of other underperforming companies, including Openwave (OPWV Quote) and Gateway (GTW Quote), as well.

So far, Harbinger seems content to simply sit on its Navistar stock. The firm, which declined to comment for this story, has reportedly made no demands of the company at all.

Even so, Navistar responded to Harbinger's interest by adopting a temporary shareholder rights plan that could thwart an unwelcome takeover.

"The board of directors felt that it was not in the best interests of shareholders for any group to acquire a substantial interest in, or control of, the company when financial statements are not available for all shareholders to see," Navistar spokesman Roy Wiley recently explained to TheStreet.com. "We've had calls from a lot of people -- who are generally against poison pills -- who have said, 'You guys did the right thing.'"

From an operational standpoint, Navistar continues to delight investors as well.

So far, on two separate occasions, Navistar has stunned the market with big MRAP awards that some felt that others -- particularly Force Protection -- might snag instead. In fact, only Navistar seemed to see the latest order coming.

"Ever since we received the first award, [the government] has been asking us on a daily basis how we can deliver quicker and how they can help," says Bob Walsh, assistant general manager of Navistar's International Military and Government division. "Once we were able to provide them with a plan, we felt relatively confident that -- if the funding was available and the timing was right -- we would receive some sort of incremental order" under the multibillion-dollar MRAP program.