Billionaire ASOS tycoon Anders Holch Povlsen loses three children in Sri Lanka terror attacks

The billionaire fashion tycoon behind the online clothing retailer Asos lost three of his four children in the Sri Lanka terrorist attacks, a spokesman has said.

Anders Holch Povlsen, 46, is Denmark’s wealthiest man with a net worth of $7.9bn (£6.1bn) according to Forbes, and is believed to be the largest landowner in Scotland after buying a string of historic estates.

He and his wife, Anne Storm Pedersen, hold an estimated 200,000 acres of the Highlands, and plan to rewild the landscape to preserve it for future generations, according to a Guardian report last month.

The bombings at churches and luxury hotels across Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday killed 290 people and wounded about 500. An investigator said on Monday that seven suicide bombers had taken part in the attacks.

Jesper Stubkier, the communications manager for Holch Povlsen’s wholesale clothing business, Bestseller, told the Press Association on Monday: “I can confirm that three children have been killed. We have no further comment and we ask that the family’s privacy is respected at this time.”

He declined to comment on the identity of the children or whether other members of the family had been visiting Sri Lanka. It has not been reported in which of the series of blasts they died.