“Selling”虽然有出售的意思，但在这里将“selling shareholders”译为“出售股东”可能会让人不明所以。所以，可以先来看一看其英文释义，了解这一术语到底指的是什么，相关英文释义如下：

释义1：ICDR 2018 has introduced a definition of “selling shareholder(s)” which is defined as any shareholder of the person who is offering for sale the specified securities in a public issue.

释义2：In the context of registered securities offerings, an existing stockholder of a company that is selling shares in a registered public offering. A public offering of shares by existing stockholders is known as a secondary offering. Existing stockholders can sell shares in a company's initial public offering or in a follow-on offering.

Existing stockholders who sell shares through initial purchasers in unregistered offerings exempt from registration under Rule 144A and Regulation S are also referred to as selling stockholders.

通过以上释义，我们可以看出，“selling shareholders”其实是美国的说法，它具体指的是

首次公开发行/公开发售股份之前已持有公司股票的原始股股东将自己的一部分股票拿出来作为公开发行的一部分进行出售，因此更好的处理方法为将这种股东称为“献售股东（献出自己的股份予以出售）”。当母公司想要通过让子公司上市来剥离子公司的时候就可能变成献售股东，进而减持子公司的股份。

以下为相关示例：

The Company and the Selling Shareholders have agreed to offer for subscription of the Offer Shares (as defined below) pursuant to the Global Offering (as defined below), with the Hong Kong Offer Shares (as defined below) being offered by the Company for subscription pursuant to the Hong Kong Public Offering (as defined below), and the International Placing Shares (as defined below) to be offered by the Company and the Selling Shareholders pursuant to the International Placing (as defined below).

 本公司和献售股东已同意提供全球发售（定义见下文）中用以认购的发售股份（定义见下文），并同意由本公司提供香港公开发售（定义见下文）中用以认购的香港发售股份（定义见下文），以及由本公司和献售股东提供国际配售（定义见下文）中用以认购的国际配售股份（定义见下文）。