A delivery device for a sheet-processing machine, comprises at least one deposition station and a conveyer station, by the use of which, upstream-processed sheets of printed material can be picked up in a transfer location, and can be conveyed through the deposition station via a first conveying system, where they can be deposited optionally to form a stack, or can be conveyed beyond that stack. A holding device, which holds down the uppermost sheet of the stack during the transfer of a sheet to be conveyed against an entrainment or a lifting, is provided with one or with a plurality of holding assemblies which are spaced apart from each other transversely to the transport direction. A sheet-guiding element may be provided, which adjoins the deposition station and which is variable in its vertical position with at least its upstream end by the use of an actuating drive.