Johnson & Johnson sold 4 billion euros ($4.6 billion) of bonds Wednesday, its first sale in the single currency since 2007, putting corporate debt issuance in Europe within reach of a weekly record.

The world's largest maker of health-care products sold securities maturing between 2022 and 2035, according to a person familiar with the sales who asked not to be identified because they're not authorized to discuss it publicly. Kraft Heinz Co. and General Motors Financial Co. also sold notes, helping push the week's tally to about 20 billion euros, the data show. Issuance in the U.S. is on track to be the busiest week this year.

Some of the world's biggest companies are piling into the European and American bond markets to take advantage of global borrowing costs pushed toward record lows amid central-bank stimulus in the euro area and Japan. Even at such low yields, the offerings are still attractive to investors struggling to make a profit in a world where $9.2 trillion of bonds have negative yields.