GM will return to golf sponsorship

DETROIT — General Motors will take another step out of bankruptcy protection Monday when it announces that its Cadillac luxury division will resume sponsoring golf tournaments, a person briefed on the matter said.

The automaker plans to announce Monday that Cadillac will sponsor the World Golf Championship in Doral, Fla., said the person, who asked not to be identified because no formal announcement has been made.

GM also is working to bring a PGA Tour stop back to Michigan, the person said. Last year, the automaker ended its half-century run as sponsor of the Buick Open golf tournament near Flint, Mich., as it cut expenses while under bankruptcy court protection. Buick ended a nine-year endorsement deal with golf superstar Tiger Woods in 2008.

The automaker said in a statement Monday only that Cadillac marketing Vice President Don Butler would make a sports sponsorship announcement in Doral on Monday afternoon.

GM has returned to profitability. It made $4.2 billion through the first three quarters of this year despite slow auto sales in the U.S. The company shed much of its debt and slimmed down to just four brands as it went through bankruptcy court last year, allowing it to make money on far lower sales volumes.

During its run through bankruptcy, GM also stopped advertising on football's Super Bowl and the Academy Awards; it confirmed this year that it would return to the Super Bowl next year.

In mid-November, GM pulled off a $23.1 billion initial public stock offering that allowed its largest stockholder, the U.S. government, to cut its stake in the company from 61 percent to 33 percent. The government has gotten back roughly $13.5 billion of the $49.5 billion it loaned GM to stop it from going out of business. By the end of the year, GM will have repaid another $9.5 billion, and the government will try to recover the remaining $26.5 billion with several follow-up stock sales. The government still owns 500 million GM common shares.

Buick had been the longest-standing corporate sponsor on the PGA Tour and once had its name on four tournaments — the Buick Classic in New York, the Buick Challenge in Georgia, the Buick Open and the Buick Invitational. It also took over the Buick Championship in Connecticut for three years after the Georgia event folded.