A Cape Town businessman has obtained a temporary injunction meant to prevent the sale of a 27-carat, $25-million pink diamond.

Johann Jacobus Cilliers sought the order, issued by the Cape Town High Court, in an attempt to stop Kimberley Consolidated Mining, of which he is a shareholder, from selling the diamond.

The disputed diamond was found last month at the miners' Bo Karoo site in the Northern Cape. A company statement described the gem as "a 27-carat, light-pink diamond."

According to TimesLive, Cilliers claimed that the struggling company would receive only 15% of the profit of the sale of the diamond because of an invalid subcontractor agreement with Pico Diamonds.

KCM CEO Phemelo Sehunelo contradicted the statement, saying that "we have a good subcontractor agreement with Pico Diamonds."

The JSE-listed diamond company ran into trouble with the authorities for failing to submit annual financial statements last year.