Since, under the parties' agreement, defendants' duty to pay plaintiff was expressly conditioned upon plaintiff's written presentation of potential merger candidates, and plaintiff failed, in responding to defendants' summary judgment motion, to adduce any evidence that that condition had been satisfied, the motion court properly found plaintiff's recovery of a finder's fee pursuant to the agreement precluded as a matter of law ( see, Oppenheimer Co. v. Oppenheim, Appel, Dixon Co., 86 N.Y.2d 685). Since this case involves an express condition precedent to defendants' payment obligation, we perceive no basis upon which the doctrine of substantial performance might be invoked ( see, supra, at 692).
Concur — Nardelli, J. P., Wallach, Tom and Andrias, JJ.