HSBC CCF has advised Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR), the French retail giant, on the sale of the mail order business of its Guilbert office supplies unit to Staples for €825m ($809m).

HSBC CCF is a long-term corporate finance advisor for PPR, one of the world's biggest retail groups with a stable of brands ranging from Gucci, the Italian fashion house, to Fnac, the French high street consumer electronics chain. In January 1996 CCF advised PPR on the sale of Prenatal, a specialist clothing retailer for the infant and maternity market, to Artsana, an Italian paediatric accessories and clothing group.