Heading off a proxy war, heavy truck and engine company Navistar is adding a colleague of activist investor Carl Icahn and a former protégé of his to its board.

Shares of Navistar added $1.60, or 7.5 percent, to close at $22.81 Monday. Over the past year, the stock has traded in a range of $19.79 to $48.18.

Navistar International Corp. said Monday that Mark Rachesky and Vincent Intrieri are now board members. Intrieri works for Icahn Capital LP. Rachesky runs MHR Fund Management LLC, a hedge fund that increased its stake in Navistar over the summer.

Icahn Capital and MHR each own a nearly 15 percent stake in Navistar.

The Lisle, Ill., company will add one more new director, to be approved by both Icahn and Rachesky, to its board.

The third new director will replace an as-yet unnamed board member.

Yahoo buyback urged by holders

Yahoo investors put off by a stock price that has barely budged this year are urging Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer to buy back shares rather than pay a dividend with the $3 billion raised from selling a stake in Alibaba Group Holding.

A buyback would give the signal that investors seek that Mayer has confidence in Yahoo’s growth prospects and in her ability to use innovative products to lure back users and advertisers who have defected to Google and Facebook.

A dividend, by contrast, may be seen as a tacit admission that management lacks fresh ideas to revive its business and must rely instead on regular cash outlays to hold on to investors.

With a buyback, Yahoo’s stock can double to $32 within a year, said Brett Harriss, an analyst at Gabelli & Co. Yahoo has said it will return proceeds from the Alibaba transaction to investors, without specifying when or how.

Local Web design firm giving away free site

A website design and consulting firm is offering local companies a shot at free services.

Fort Wayne-based eMedia Technologies Inc., 6317 Constitution Drive, is sponsoring a contest in which the winner receives an “e-commerce” website that will allow a business to sell products or services online. eMedia President and CEO Lee Pomerantz said the prize is worth $10,000.

To enter, companies must go to www.emediawebtools.com. From there, contestants are directed to eMedia’s Facebook page where they can register to win. The contest runs through Oct. 31.

For more information, call 673-0312.