Salazar

We affirm summary judgment in favor of respondents on appellant Vincent Salazar’s claim for commissions on the transfer of Internet and Web-hosting services to respondents from AT&T Corp. The trial court correctly found that the transaction was the sale of a business opportunity and that under Business and Professions Code section 10131, subdivision (a), Salazar was required to be licensed as a broker in order to recover compensation for arranging the sale or acquisition of this business.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The Complaint

Salazar, individually and doing business as Los Angeles Technology, sued respondents HostPro, Inc. (HostPro), and Interland, Inc. (Interland), for breach of contract and fraud. He alleged that he was an agent of AT&T Corp. (AT&T) authorized to market Internet and Web-hosting services to small and medium-sized businesses (the Web services). In 2001, he advised HostPro, which also provided Web services to small and medium businesses, that AT&T no longer wished to provide these Web services. HostPro expressed an interest in acquiring AT&T’s small and medium business clients.

On February 13, 2001, Salazar entered into a written contract…