The Seve Trophy, which pits the best golfers from Britain and Ireland against the best of continental Europe in a similar format to the Ryder Cup, will be sponsored by Vivendi.

The trophy, named after five-times major winner Seve Ballesteros, the most successful golfer ever from continental Europe, will now be known as The Vivendi Trophy with Severiano Ballesteros. It will be held every two years, with The Vivendi Celebrity Trophy taking place in alternate years.

Vivendi is a French-based international media conglomerate which controls Canal+, Activision Blizzard, Universal Music Group, SFR and Maroc Telecom.

"Vivendi has decided to become the main partner for this golf trophy as golf is a passion that is shared by many people in France, the UK, Morocco and the USA," said Simon Gillham, executive vice president at Vivendi. "It is a unique opportunity to bring together the institutional world, the financial world, the financial community, individual shareholders, Vivendi's subsidiaries and their clients and partners to take part in a fascinating spectacle with top class players."

The 2009 Vivendi Trophy with Severiano Ballesteros will see Thomas Björn of Denmark captain Continental Europe and Paul McGinley of Ireland captain Great Britain and Ireland. Colin Montgomerie, speaking as the 2010 European Ryder Cup Captain, said: "I am very keen that as players we pay full tribute to Seve Ballesteros and through the continuation of this event by Vivendi we are able to do exactly that. Seve has been such a formative figure on The European Tour and it is good to take the opportunity to honour and praise his achievements. The Vivendi Trophy with Severiano Ballesteros has my full support. I think it is an incredibly important event in itself and also in respect to The Ryder Cup."