The Carlyle Group, the US private equity firm, has completed its first Italian exit. It has doubled its money through the sale of a 50% stake in Riello, a domestic heating group, to a branch of the founding family.

Carlyle has made a total of 16 investments from its inaugural €1bn ($1.2bn) European buy-out fund, which is now fully invested. Riello is the fifth European exit following last month's sale of Honsel International Technologies, a German automotive supplier to Ripplewood.