UPDATE 1-Venezuela to pay $1.65 bln for Sidor stake-reports

(Updates with attempt to reach company, background)

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Venezuela's leftist government will pay steel conglomerate Ternium (TX.N) $1.65 billion for a 50 percent stake in Venezuelan steelmaker Sidor, Argentine media reported on Tuesday.

Ternium, which is controlled by Argentina's Techint, will retain a 10 percent stake in Sidor, according to a deal scheduled to be signed later on Tuesday, the reports said.

Officials at Techint were not immediately available to comment on the accord.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has launched a series of state takeovers in his drive to create a socialist state.

On Monday his government announced the expropriation and seizure of assets held by Mexican cement giant Cemex (CMXCPO.MX)(CX.N), after negotiations to reach a deal collapsed.

Last month Chavez said his administration would buy Banco de Venezuela, a division of Spanish banking conglomerate Grupo Santander (SAN.MC).

His government has also taken control of companies in the oil, telecommunications and electrical power sectors. (Reporting by Hilary Burke and Cesar Illiano, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Steve Orlofsky)