HONG KONG (AP) — Alibaba.com Ltd., one of China’s fastest-growing technology companies, reached its goal of raising $1.5 billion in its initial public offering Saturday, people close to the deal said.

Alibaba, an e-commerce portal, sold 858.9 million shares, or a 17 percent 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 Nov. 6.

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 Ltd., 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 Inc.

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