SMU Community Chat
Register for Dec 13 Community Chat with BoA M&A guru Ira Kreft
Written by Michael Cowden
December 1, 2023
Register for Dec 13 Community Chat with BoA M&A guru Ira Kreft
Bank of America SVP Ira Kreft will be the featured speaker on SMU’s Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, Dec. 13, at 11 am ET. You can register here.
What we’ll talk about

We’ll discuss M&A in the steel and metals industries. Is there still room for consolidation in flat-rolled steel?
We’ll also talk about the trend of historically carbon steel service centers diversifying into stainless and specialty metals. They are adding great value-added capabilities, including downstream fabrication. How durable is that trend, and what does it mean for M&A at the service center level?
Finally, mills are focused on decarbonization. Beyond record piles of cash, what financing is available to fund their path to net-zero?
We’ll take your questions too. So think of some good ones, and throw them in Q&A box on Dec. 13.
Why you should listen
Ira Kreft is a senior vice president at Bank of America Business Capital and national metal industries executive. His office is in Chicago and he works and collaborates with Bank of America’s bankers and investment bankers with respect to companies from Main Street to Wall Street across the metals spectrum from metal recyclers to mills to service centers to fabricated metal and metal intensive manufacturers.
He serves as a subject-matter expert in metals for BoA’s Global Commercial Banking division. He comes by the metal industries naturally because his father spent his career with U.S. Steel and he was indoctrinated into the industry at an early age.
Editor’s note: If you’d like to see recordings or slide decks from past Community Chat’s – including a very good one recently with Algoma Steel CEO Michael Garcia – you can find those here.

Michael Cowden
Read more from Michael CowdenLatest in SMU Community Chat

Join SMU for a Community Chat With Barry Zekelman Next Wednesday!
Zekelman is known for his straight talk. And his company is one of the largest steel buyers in North America. So he’s got a better eye than most on steel market developments.

Join AMU’s Greg Wittbecker on May 14 for a Community Chat on aluminum, tariffs, and trade
AMU’s Greg Wittbecker, an aluminum industry veteran, will address not only US tariffs but also evolving trade routes - and how supply chains are (or aren’t) adjusting. He’ll also touch on broader industrial impacts, from auto layoffs to the potential ripple effect of maritime tax policies.

SMU Community Chat: Bilstein’s Wilson talks tariffs and pretzels
Brent Wilson talks about the different takes on President Trump's tariffs in Europe and the US.

Join SMU on Wednesday for a Community Chat with Bilstein Cold Rolled Steel CEO Brent Wilson
Bilstein Cold Rolled Steel LLC CEO Brent Wilson will be the featured speaker on the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, April 30, at 11 am ET. You can register here. Reminder: The live webinar is free to attend. A recording will be available only to SMU subscribers. About Bilstein and Wilson Bilstein Cold […]

Join us for the April 9 Community Chat with Algoma Steel CEO Michael Garcia
During the chat, we’ll discuss trends in the North American sheet and plate markets, as well as the unique aspects of the Canadian market. We’ll talk all thing tariffs — and the timing couldn’t be better in the wake of Liberation Day on April 2.