China's Alibaba.com raises $1.5b in IPO

Alibaba.com, one of China's fastest-growing technology companies, reached its goal of raising $1.5 billion in its initial public offering, people close to the deal, quoted by an Associated Press report, said.

Alibaba, an e-commerce portal, sold 858.9 million shares, or a 17% stake, at roughly $1.75 each, a source told Dow Jones Newswires on condition of anonymity.

The shares will debut on the Hong Kong stock market on November 6, the report said.

The Associated Press report aid the IPO price translates to a multiple of 55 times its forecast 2008 earnings, above the 34 times price-to-earnings ratio of Nasdaq-listed business-to-business search engine Global Sources , analysts said earlier.

But the ratio is much lower than the 83 times price-to-earnings multiple of Chinese-language Internet-search provider Baidu.com.

The IPO has drawn huge interest in Hong Kong, with the retail tranche of 128.83 million shares more than 250 times oversubscribed, newspaper reports said.

Alibaba Group founder, Jack Ma, has said proceeds from the IPO would be spent on acquisitions and development, designed to grow the company's business both in China and overseas.