investors sought a piece of the company and its business of providing low-cost long-distance service to businesses in the US and several other countries.

Bermuda-based RSL on Wednesday raised $158.4 million in an initial public offering at $22 a share.

RSL, whose chairman is cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder, targets small and mid-size businesses in countries including the US, Finland, Germany, Japan, Sweden and Venezuela. It's benefitting from increasing deregulation of telecommunications around the world, which opens up the industry to new companies, as well as increasing demand for phone and data-transmission services.

"It's another company that is trying to get in on what is going to be revolutionary changes in international long-distance,'' said Linda Killian, a portfolio manager at Renaissance Capital Corp. in Greenwich, Connecticut.

"It's very ambitious to have a low-cost global network.'' The company sold 7.2 million Class A shares, or about an 18 percent equity stake, in the offering. The sale was at the top of the expected price range of $19 to $22 a share in a sign of strong demand for the shares. RSL Communications sold 5.76 million shares in the US and 1.44 million shares in other countries.

Lauder, who also is one of the company's founders, also is non-executive chairman of Central European Media Enterprises Ltd., which operates television stations and networks in Central and Eastern Europe. He has served in the past as chairman of cosmetics companies Estee Lauder International Inc. and Clinique Laboratories Inc.

"The Ronald Lauder association is a plus,'' said Ryan Jacob, director of research at IPO Value Monitor. Analysts said Lauder's background in business and broadcasting should reassure investors about the future of RSL Communications.

Lauder, through investment partnerships that hold Class B shares, owns a majority voting stake in the company. Class A shares give holders one vote a share, while Class B shares, which weren't sold in the IPO, give holders ten votes a share.

The company had a wider loss of $38.2 million, or $11.24 a share, in 1996, from $9.40 million in 1995. Like many newer telecommunications companies, it isn't expected to earn money for several years.

Analysts said that even with the wider loss, RSL's revenue growth is impressive. The company had revenue of about $113.3 million in 1996, up from about $18.6 million in 1995.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. managed the offering, along with Merrill Lynch & Co., Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and SBC Warburg Dillon Read Inc. The shares are traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol RSLCF. The company has about 39.4 million total shares outstanding.