The objective of this study is to investigate whether publicly traded acquiring firms engage in earnings manipulation prior to stock financed merger and acquisition deals. I examine a sample of 52 stock for stock mergers and acquisitions by German, French and United kingdom publicly-listed acquiring firms completed between 2005 and 2015. Earnings management is measured by discretionary total and working capital accruals obtained from the cash flow statement on the basis of the standard Jones Model (1991). The results indicate that German, French and UK-listed acquiring firms manipulate earnings upward in the year prior to the merger announcement. Further analysis indicates that the degree of earnings manipulation through discretionary accruals is positively related to the acquirers’ performance in the year prior to the announcement of the deal.