European buyout firm Apax Partners has made a more than five times return from the sale of its stake in Italian bank Banca Farmafactoring to Centerbridge Partners, as the booming market for private equity exits continues.

London-based Apax announced on Thursday that it had sold its majority stake in the bank, which has operations in Italy, Spain and Portugal, for an undisclosed sum. The deal, which was from Apax's sixth European buyout fund, generated around a 5.5 times return, according to a person familiar with the matter.