Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject Business economics - Investment and Finance, grade: 1,7, The FOM University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, language: English, abstract: This paper will examine the question of how M&A activities influence a companys stock price and earnings per share (EPS), especially if the bootstrap effect occurs?In 2016, the global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities decreased by about 18 percent compared to 2015. Altogether, 17,369 deals with a value of 3.2 trillion (tn.) US-Dollars (USD) were performed. There are numerous reasons to invest and divest in inorganic growth. Organic growth has its limitations, thus acquiring competitors, growing vertically or horizontally as well as accessing new markets are strong motivators to do so. Growing a business is often linked with going public. The decision to be part of the stock market and to perform M&A influences an enterprises value for various reasons. To approach these questions, the first chapter gives a general overview of reasons, motivators, risks and benefits of M&A. Thereafter, the influence of M&A on a companys shareholder value and EPS is examined. Then, the bootstrap effect is explained and subsequently illustrated by an exemplary M&A transaction. Afterwards the risks and benefits of bootstrapping and M&A are analysed to consider its usefulness and influence on the share price and EPS.