Money Distilled

What If London Loses One Of Its Top Companies?

Suggestions that AstraZeneca might cross the Atlantic should act as a huge wake-up call.

The AstraZeneca facility in Gaithersburg, Maryland, US.

Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg
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Welcome to the award-winning Money Distilled newsletter. I’m John Stepek. Every week day I look at the biggest stories in markets and economics, and explain what it all means for your money.

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca Plc is currently the third-biggest company in the UK’s headline FTSE 100 index by market capitalisation, if you want to be really pedantic. At this morning’s prices, it accounts for around 7.28% of the entire FTSE 100, just behind banking group HSBC Holdings Plc. on 7.31%. Oil major Shell Plc leads on 7.35%.