June 1 (Bloomberg) -- Advertising firms Publicis Groupe SA and Interpublic Group of Cos. and their subsidiaries are owed $167.4 million by General Motors Corp., according to a list of the bankrupt automaker’s top 50 unsecured creditors.

GM, which filed for bankruptcy protection today, had liabilities of $25.3 million to Paris-based Publicis and $121.5 million to the ad company’s Starcom MediaVest Group division, according to a court document. GM owed Interpublic $16 million and its McCann Erickson unit $4.6 million, the filing shows.

“Generally, unsecured creditors aren’t going to receive 100 percent of their claim,” Mechele Dickerson, a bankruptcy professor at University of Texas at Austin, said in an interview. “It’s a question of how much of a haircut they are going to have to take, and it’s in these companies’ interest to stick with GM as a client for when they come out of bankruptcy.”

Interpublic’s Campbell-Ewald unit crafted the “American Revolution” Chevrolet campaign featuring John Mellencamp. Publicis, whose Starcom division places TV ads, and Interpublic said GM will continue using their agencies through its bankruptcy as it seeks to boost its flagging sales.

Starcom Claims

It is unclear how much of the liabilities GM would return to Starcom, said Jill Kelly, a Starcom spokeswoman in New York.

“We won’t know that until GM makes its presentations in bankruptcy court,” she said in an interview.

A Publicis spokeswoman, Peggy Nahmany, didn’t immediately return a voicemail left after regular business hours in Paris.

Interpublic Chief Financial Officer Frank Mergenthaler said on April 28 the company’s cash exposure to GM would be $150 million in a bankruptcy.

“We have been very direct in identifying and addressing the potential implications this decision could have on our business,” Tom Cunningham, a spokesman with New York-based Interpublic, said in an e-mail.

Last month, Interpublic, the second-largest U.S. advertising agency, named a former GM executive to lead its business relationship with the carmarker. Martin Walsh is due to begin on June 15 as senior vice president, the company said at the time. Walsh was most recently general manager for the Hummer brand, which the Detroit-based carmaker plans to shed.

Bruce Stockler, a McCann spokesman in New York, referred calls to Interpublic.

Interpublic gained 28 cents, or 5.3 percent, to $5.52 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have jumped 39 percent this year. Publicis added 34 cents, or 1.5 percent, to 23.24 euros in Paris, and has risen 26 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Bensinger in New York at gbensinger1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 1, 2009 17:08 EDT