Dow Jones News Service
Oshkosh Corp. (OSK) said at least 12 of the 13 Oshkosh-backed nominees were elected to its board, according to preliminary numbers--handing another loss to activist billionaire investor Carl Icahn this month.

Icahn, the company's largest shareholder with a roughly 9.5 percent stake, nominated six candidates for the Oshkosh board. He has said the slate would support merging Oshkosh with Navistar International Corp. (NAV), another truck maker in which he owns a large stake.

A representative from Icahn Enterprises L.P. (IEP) wasn't immediately available for comment.

About two weeks ago, Icahn dropped his hostile takeover bid for Commercial Metals Co. (CMC) after failing to win the level of support he had sought from other shareholders.

The results for the 13th Oshkosh seat were too close to call. The company said it will release preliminary votes in four business days and final results in a few weeks.

Icahn is well known for shaking up boardrooms and pushing for change at companies whose stocks he considers undervalued. One of his more recent targets includes consumer-products company Clorox Co. (CLX).

Oshkosh, which makes fire trucks, cement mixers, military trucks and other specialized vehicles, aggressively pursued a five-year, $3 billion U.S. military truck order in 2009, but profit and revenue have slumped in recent quarters as the company is losing money on the deal.

In October, the company said its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings sank after the company saw a significant drop in defense sales.