The offer to sell to the public a large amount of stock obtained from other than a public offering (such as unregistered stock from either a private placement or allocation at incorporation). When the amount of stock to be sold is very large to be allowed under market rules or would otherwise be too great for the market to absorb, the shares are offered to the public in a secondary offering. Secondary offerings are typically carried out by an institutional investor and do not end up in an increase in the total number of outstanding shares. The company whose stock is being offered will not receive proceeds from a secondary offering. Instead, all proceeds go to the individual beneficial owner of the stock.