Citigroup, which floated Lottomatica five years ago, last night emerged advising US rival Gtech which is being bought by the Italian lottery group for €4bn ($4.8bn). Lottomatica is being advised by Credit Suisse First Boston and Goldman Sachs.

Lottomatica raised $180m (€149m) in a flotation in May 2001 led by Citigroup, Mediobanca and BNL, according to Dealogic, the investment banking research provider.