It is perhaps fitting that one of the largest initial public offerings to be pulled this year was that of a lottery company. For many investors, issuers, and the investment banks that advise them, the IPO market this year has been something of a lottery.

Sociedad Estatal de Loterías & Apuestas del Estado SA, the Spanish gaming company that runs the El Gordo jackpot ("the fat one"), had hoped to raise some €7bn this month in Madrid. The deal might have topped the $10bn that was raised in May by Swiss-based commodities giant Glencore International, the largest IPO so far in 2011.