An offering (secondary offering) of common stock that a company had issued in the past (by means of an initial public offering or IPO). The common stock is sold in the secondary market– that is, it is a stock already issued and is re-offered in a formal public offering.

This type of offering is usually carried out by resellers such as venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, early-stage investors, and so on. The proceeds of sale do not go to the issuing company, but rather to resellers who are the owners/ holders of the stock being sold.