TAKEOVERS: Raider League, Junior Division

When he was younger, Manny Pearlman planned to have his own investment firm. Now, at the advanced age of 28, he has one: Manhattan's Gemini Partners. And, as the newest and perhaps youngest player in the takeover game, he could have more companies in his pocket, soon. Last week Pearlman, acting on behalf of a group of investors, launched his first tender offer, a bid worth $240 million for Arkansas Best Corp. (1987 revenues: $732 million), a firm engaged in trucking as well as furniture and tire manufacturing.

A graduate of Duke and Harvard Business School, Pearlman worked two years for Plaza Securities, the firm of Corporate Raider Asher Edelman. Says Pearlman: "I don't think that age is the most important factor. It's doing your homework and understanding what needs to be done." Evidently, Wall Street agrees. Bankers Trust has offered Pearlman financing worth $120 million, proving that it thinks the young man's takeover is anything but kid stuff.