Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of English football team Manchester United, is to join forces with the television star Sir David Frost in a £1bn ($1.6bn) property venture backed by Middle Eastern investors that aims to snap up real estate at bargain prices.

In the latest celebrity business tie-up and following news of Simon Cowell’s entertainment venture with the British retail billionaire Sir Philip Green, the English premier league manager and the broadcaster are to drum up support for commercial property deals across Europe in the belief the market is near the bottom of a prolonged slump.