Alibaba IPO values company at $167.6 billion

NEW YORK — Chinese e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba priced its initial public offering of stock at $68 per share on Thursday, the top end of the expected range. It is expected to start trading Friday under the ticker “BABA” on the NYSE. The IPO values Alibaba at $167.6 billion. That’s bigger than the current market value of Amazon, Cisco, and eBay.

Alibaba’s Taobao, TMall and other platforms account for some 80 percent of Chinese online commerce.

The fundraising target could be up to $25 billion handily eclipsing the $16 billion Facebook raised in 2012, the most for a technology IPO. It also tops the all-time IPO fundraising record of $22.1 billion set by the Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. in 2010, according to the research firm Dealogic.

BY MAE ANDERSON, AP Technology Writer