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UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 SCHEDULE 13G Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No. )* ------------ ESCO Technologies Inc. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Name of Issuer) Common Stock - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Title of Class of Securities) 296315104 -------------------------------- (CUSIP Number) December 31, 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- (Date of Event Which Requires Filing of this Statement) Check the appropriate box to designate the rule pursuant to which this Schedule is filed: [x] Rule 13d-1(b) [ ] Rule 13d-1(c) [ ] Rule 13d-1(d) *The remainder of this cover page shall be filled out for a reporting person's initial filing on this form with respect to the subject class of securities, and for any subsequent amendment containing information which would alter the disclosures provided in a prior cover page. The information required in the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be "filed" for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Act") or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes). Page 1 of 10 pages SEC 1745 (2/92) CUSIP No. 296315104 13G Page 2 of 10 Pages ________________________________________________________________________________ 1. NAME OF REPORTING PERSONS I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NO. OF ABOVE PERSONS (ENTITIES ONLY) Liberty Wanger Asset Management, L.P. 36-3820584 ________________________________________________________________________________ 2. CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP* (a) [_] Not Applicable (b) [_] ________________________________________________________________________________ 3. SEC USE ONLY ________________________________________________________________________________ 4. CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION Delaware ________________________________________________________________________________ NUMBER OF 5. SOLE VOTING POWER SHARES None _________________________________________________________________ BENEFICIALLY 6. SHARED VOTING POWER OWNED BY 1,119,000 _________________________________________________________________ EACH 7. SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER REPORTING None _________________________________________________________________ PERSON 8. SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER WITH 1,119,000 ________________________________________________________________________________ 9. AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON 1,119,000 ________________________________________________________________________________ 10. CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (9) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES* Not Applicable [_] ________________________________________________________________________________ 11. PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (9) 8.9 % ________________________________________________________________________________ 12. TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON* IA ________________________________________________________________________________ CUSIP No. 296315104 13G Page 3 of 10 Pages ________________________________________________________________________________ 1. NAME OF REPORTING PERSONS I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NO. OF ABOVE PERSONS (ENTITIES ONLY) WAM Acquisition GP, Inc. ________________________________________________________________________________ 2. CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP* (a) [_] Not Applicable (b) [_] ________________________________________________________________________________ 3. SEC USE ONLY ________________________________________________________________________________ 4. CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION Delaware ________________________________________________________________________________ NUMBER OF 5. SOLE VOTING POWER SHARES None _________________________________________________________________ BENEFICIALLY 6. SHARED VOTING POWER OWNED BY 1,119,000 _________________________________________________________________ EACH 7. SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER REPORTING None _________________________________________________________________ PERSON 8. SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER WITH 1,119,000 ________________________________________________________________________________ 9. AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON 1,119,000 ________________________________________________________________________________ 10. CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (9) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES* Not Applicable [_] ________________________________________________________________________________ 11. PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (9) 8.9 % ________________________________________________________________________________ 12. TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON* CO ________________________________________________________________________________ CUSIP No. 296315104 13G Page 4 of 10 Pages ________________________________________________________________________________ 1. NAME OF REPORTING PERSONS I.R.S. IDENTIFICATION NO. OF ABOVE PERSONS (ENTITIES ONLY) Liberty Acorn Trust ________________________________________________________________________________ 2. CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP* (a) [_] Not Applicable (b) [_] ________________________________________________________________________________ 3. SEC USE ONLY ________________________________________________________________________________ 4. CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION Massachusetts ________________________________________________________________________________ NUMBER OF 5. SOLE VOTING POWER SHARES None _________________________________________________________________ BENEFICIALLY 6. SHARED VOTING POWER OWNED BY 951,100 _________________________________________________________________ EACH 7. SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER REPORTING None _________________________________________________________________ PERSON 8. SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER WITH 951,100 ________________________________________________________________________________ 9. AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON 951,100 ________________________________________________________________________________ 10. CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (9) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES* Not Applicable [_] ________________________________________________________________________________ 11. PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (9) 7.6 % ________________________________________________________________________________ 12. TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON* IV ________________________________________________________________________________ Item 1(a) Name of Issuer: ESCO Technologies Inc. Item 1(b) Address of Issuer's Principal Executive Offices: 8888 Ladue Road Ste. 200 St. Louis, MO 63124-2056 Item 2(a) Name of Person Filing: Liberty Wanger Asset Management, L.P. ("WAM") WAM Acquisition GP, Inc., the general partner of WAM ("WAM GP") Liberty Acorn Trust ("Acorn") Item 2(b) Address of Principal Business Office: WAM, WAM GP and Acorn are all located at: 227 West Monroe Street, Suite 3000 Chicago, Illinois 60606 Item 2(c) Citizenship: WAM is a Delaware limited partnership; WAM GP is a Delaware corporation; and Acorn is a Massachusetts business trust. Item 2(d) Title of Class of Securities: Common Stock Item 2(e) CUSIP Number: 296315104 Item 3 Type of Person: (d) Acorn is an Investment Company under section 8 of the Investment Company Act. (e) WAM is an Investment Adviser registered under section 203 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940; WAM GP is the General Partner of the Investment Adviser. Page 5 of 10 Pages Item 4 Ownership (at December 31, 2002): (a) Amount owned "beneficially" within the meaning of rule 13d-3: 1,119,000 (b) Percent of class: 8.9 % (based on 12,560,878 shares outstanding as of December 16, 2002). (c) Number of shares as to which such person has: (i) sole power to vote or to direct the vote: none (ii) shared power to vote or to direct the vote: 1,119,000 (iii) sole power to dispose or to direct the disposition of: none (iv) shared power to dispose or to direct disposition of: 1,119,000 Item 5 Ownership of Five Percent or Less of a Class: Not Applicable Item 6 Ownership of More than Five Percent on Behalf of Another Person: The shares reported herein have been acquired on behalf of discretionary clients of WAM, including Acorn. Persons other than WAM and WAM GP are entitled to receive all dividends from, and proceeds from the sale of, those shares. Acorn is the only such person known to be entitled to all dividends from, and all proceeds from the sale of, shares reported herein to the extent of more than 5% of the class. Item 7 Identification and Classification of the Subsidiary Which Acquired the Security Being Reported on by the Parent Holding Company: Not Applicable Item 8 Identification and Classification of Members of the Group: Not Applicable Item 9 Notice of Dissolution of Group: Not Applicable Page 6 of 10 Pages Item 10 Certification: By signing below I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the securities referred to above were acquired and are held in the ordinary course of business and were not acquired and are not held for the purpose of or with the effect of changing or influencing the control of the issuer of the securities and were not acquired and are not held in connection with or as a participant in any transaction having that purpose or effect. Page 7 of 10 Pages Signature After reasonable inquiry and to the best of my knowledge and belief, I certify that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct. Date: February 4, 2003 The undersigned corporation, on the date above written, agrees and consents to the joint filing on its behalf of this Schedule 13G in connection with its beneficial ownership of the security reported herein. WAM Acquisition GP, Inc. for itself and as general partner of LIBERTY WANGER ASSET MANAGEMENT, L.P. By: /s/ Bruce H. Lauer ---------------------------------------- Bruce H. Lauer Senior Vice President and Secretary The undersigned corporation, on the date above written, agrees and consents to the joint filing on its behalf of this Schedule 13G in connection with its beneficial ownership of the security reported herein. LIBERTY ACORN TRUST By: /s/ Bruce H. Lauer ---------------------------------------- Bruce H. Lauer Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary Page 8 of 10 Pages Exhibit Index Exhibit 1 Joint Filing Agreement dated as of February 4, 2003 by and among Liberty Wanger Asset Management, L.P., WAM Acquisition GP, Inc. and Liberty Acorn Trust Page 9 of 10 Pages
EXHIBIT 1 JOINT FILING AGREEMENT The undersigned hereby agree to the joint filing of the Schedule 13G to which this Agreement is attached. Dated: February 4, 2003 WAM Acquisition GP, Inc. for itself and as general partner of LIBERTY WANGER ASSET MANAGEMENT, L.P. By: /s/ Bruce H. Lauer ---------------------------------------- Bruce H. Lauer Senior Vice President and Secretary LIBERTY ACORN TRUST By: /s/ Bruce H. Lauer ---------------------------------------- Bruce H. Lauer Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary Page 10 of 10 Pages