Officials are expected to announce today a $34 million contract between a metro Denver equipment manufacturer and a Saudi Arabian company, aided by a U.S. government loan.
In the deal, Centennial-based Stolle Machinery will sell aluminum and steel-can-making equipment to a Jeddah firm.
Funding will be provided by a loan from the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
It marks the first time the bank has made a loan to a private Saudi company. All previous Export-Import loans in Saudi Arabia were made to the Saudi government or to semi-public entities backed by the government.
Stolle bills itself as “the leading supplier of machinery for the canmaking industry.” The company has two divisions — the Centennial operation, which makes equipment for food and beverage cans, and an Ohio unit that provides machines for can ends.
The Saudi contract “is good news for the Stolle workers and good news for the Colorado economy,” said Phil Cogan, a spokesman for the Export-Import Bank.
The bank has a $70.6 billion international loan portfolio. It draws no federal appropriations and has sent $5 billion in profits to the U.S. Treasury over the past 18 years.
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com
