Secondary Offering
Also called: follow-on offering, seasoned equity offering, share placement
A secondary offering is a sale of shares after the IPO. The distinction that matters is who gets the money: in a primary follow-on the company issues new shares and raises capital, diluting existing holders; in a true secondary, existing holders sell their own shares and the company receives nothing. Offerings are usually priced at a discount to market, which is why the announcement typically knocks the share price down.