Son rises again with new offer for Charter

Telecom tycoon Masayoshi Son will not be ignored.

The Sprint chairman, less than 24 hours after the failure of his offer to merge the No. 4 wireless company with Charter Communications, the No. 2 cable company, came back on Monday with another offer.

Son, who is also the chief executive of Sprint parent SoftBank, said he will use the Japan-based company to put together an offer to buy Charter outright.

Yet many doubt that Son’s new plan, first reported by Bloomberg, will fare better than his old one — despite a CNBC report that SoftBank has already secured financing.

A primary obstacle, sources said, is a belief among Charter brass and investors that the company, which acquired Time Warner Cable only a year ago, still has plenty of upside.

Just how much is suggested by Charter CEO Tom Rutledge’s commitment to vesting a barrel of options when the stock hits $564 per share.

It closed on Monday at $391.91 — up 5.6 percent. That is 44 percent shy of Rutledge’s exercise price.

Until the gap disappears, Charter’s directors wouldn’t sell an asset they believe will gain value quicker under existing management, FBN analyst Robert Routh predicted

Financing the deal could also be problematic. BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk wrote in a Monday update that a $500-a-share offer would take Charter’s market cap of $99 billion to $134 billion.

The $35 billion increase is no pittance — even for Son, who in May raised $100 billion for his Vision Fund.