Europe’s largest insurer, Allianz, is completing its $41.3 billion takeover of Dresdner Bank and making clear its expansion plans are centred on the US. Speaking at the company’s AGM in Munich, CEO Henning Schulte-Noelle said the company is now ready to continue its strategic expansion. Commenting on the new Allianz listing on the New York Stock Exchange, he said: “We will find it much easier to use our shares as a vehicle for engineering acquisitions.”

The Dresdner acquisition will be completed next Monday.