THE man behind Sir Alex Ferguson's growing property portfolio has snapped up several north west sites as part of a é12.75m deal.

Robert Whitton, chief executive of celebrity property investment organisation Active Asset Investment Management, and business partner Daren Burney have paid é12.75m for the Turner portfolio of industrial property.

The purchase was in the name of Whitton and Burney's ROM Capital.

The Turner family portfolio includes five office and industrial buildings in Darwen, Lancashire, Hyde in Greater Manchester and Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire.

Potentially the most valuable is the Grade II listed India Mill on Bolton Road, Darwen, which includes a 303ft chimney, reputed to be the tallest mill chimney in England.

The mill was built between 1859 and 1871 and was visited by Mahatma Gandhi in 1931. The building, which is now linked to Mosley Mill, totals 240,166sq ft, which has been modernised and is now multi-let to tenants including Brookhouse Composites and Capita Business Services.

Income

It currently generates an annual income of é595,129, set to rise to é868,621 when fully let.

The second largest asset is Frederick House, Dukinfield Road, Hyde, comprising 62,954sq ft of offices and industrial on a 3.5 acre site, is let to Brookhouse Aerospace at é235,370 a year.

Mr Whitton's AAIM venture has made a name for himself as one of the UK's fastest moving property investors with financial backers including Sir Alex and Sir David Frost.

Last month, Active Asset Investment Management was involved in failed talks to invest in London's Battersea power station.

Russell Hall, investment partner at Donaldsons, who advised ROM Capital said: "There is a real opportunity to add value through the letting of vacant space, more effective management of service charges and enhancing the business environment for new and existing tenants at India Mill and the other buildings."

Industrial property is currently high on investors' hitlists because they believe it is undervalued. In a separate move, Southern-based investors Highcross acquired the Vauxhall distribution building at Ellesmere Port, Merseyside from General Motors for é18.25m.

Highcross was advised by King Sturge, General Motors by Jones Lang LaSalle.