Hold onto your hats, ladies and gentlemen. Multinational mass media company Time Inc. (NYSE:$TIME) announced today that it will be turning its Sports Illustrated Swimsuit magazine brand into its own fully-developed business.

The New York City-based company has called the division ‘Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Enterprises’. With this new division, Time hopes to extend the brand by creating licensing programs, new businesses that have partnerships with swimsuit models, and leveraging content and promotional assets of Time and the Sports Illustrated brand.

“By tapping into SI Swimsuit’s enormous reach, unparalleled brand loyalty and talented models, we have extraordinary potential to develop new licensing and business opportunities that span a variety of categories,” said Chris Stone, the editorial director for Sports Illustrated.

If you follow along with the stock market, you will know that Time has been struggling as of late. For those who don’t know, the company has suffered tremendously from a declining print business. Having decided against selling itself back in June, Time went forward with a number of job cuts and commenced restructuring the business.

Additionally, Time has been selling some businesses in an attempt to shrink its portfolio and focus more on its core brands.

So far this year, Time shares have dropped almost 23%.

Featured Image: twitter