An offering whereby underwriters essentially take down securities off the shelf (on-the-go basis), rather than issue these securities in one go. This type of offering allows an issuing company to raise money from the sale of its securities over time. A takedown relates to underwritten public offerings of different types of securities such as stock, bonds, etc.

For example, if a company has already issued an amount of common stock, but thereafter it wants to issue additional stock in order to generate more funds for certain purposes, a shelf takedown allows it to issue a new series of stock that comes with different types of dividends to stockholders. In which case, the company will take down this stock offering off the shelf.

It is also known as a shelf offering.